Mayo GAA news, views and over a century of results

48 hours on

So, then, how’s your crushing disappointment getting on? With the homecoming now behind them, I hope the players’ mood is rising. The last thing they would have wanted would have been to come up so agonisingly short once again but that’s what happened and all they – and we – can do now is look to the future.

I was in bad shape yesterday myself but I’m in better fettle today. I’m definitely more buoyed up 48 hours on this year than I was last year or even compared to 2013. Maybe I’m getting inured to one-point final defeats to Dublin but, whatever it is, I’m emerging from the wreckage this time in a more optimistic frame of mind than previously.

I’m not yet ready to give any kind of considered thought to next year but there’ll be time enough for that. Once the provincial championship draws are made in early October then it makes sense for musings to pivot to 2018 and what might lie ahead of us then.

There are, of course, more immediate matters on the horizon. The ladies final – another Mayo/Dublin clash – takes place this Sunday and the All-Star football nominations are set to be unveiled on Thursday. Then, once the weekend is over, the focus will shift rapidly to the club championship action which will be getting going in earnest once more. The world truly does keep turning.

Yesterday was an exceptional day in many respects here on the blog. The deluge of comments, from so many contributors, was great and the content of them so uplifting. It was also nice to see sprinkled in there several comments posted by people from other counties, including from some gracious Dublin supporters.

Our respective teams went at it hammer-and-tongs on Sunday and, no doubt, will do so again when they meet next year (as, you’d think, they’re certain to) but Sunday’s final is over now. We’re all GAA people at the end of the day and the ability to engage in respectful debate with each other is one of the things the GAA does best, even in this often boorish social media dominated age we live in.

All that discussion on the blog yesterday obviously translated into a surge in web traffic. It won’t surprise you to learn that yesterday smashed the previous daily high on the site but it may come as a bit of a revelation to know that the record which finally tumbled yesterday had stood for over two years.

That high – 26,270 hits – was set on the last day of August in 2015, which was the day after the drawn All-Ireland semi-final against Dublin back in the Noel and Pat era. Traffic to the site around the time of last year’s two final matches came close to this high but didn’t reach it and this was the case with the two Kerry games last month as well. Yesterday, though, the record tumbled in rather spectacular fashion, the new high watermark finishing at midnight at 30,317.

Dropping by here was, then, clearly a form of therapy for some and I’m glad – and a bit humbled – that it was. Part of my therapy yesterday was, shortly after 5am, recognising that I wasn’t going to get any more sleep and so deciding instead to get up and write that piece I’d promised to provide for this week’s Mayo News.

In parting for now I’ll let you decide for yourselves whether or not that early rising was justified – the piece in question is here.

Many thanks WJ for all your efforts again! I can’t help but keep on checking in for more entries/general discussion. I’m in the camp that’s not looked back at the match turning points in too much detail as it’s too soon, but the sick feeling from yesterday appears to be on the way out. This blog really is a massive help and definitely feel like the sentiment in the run up and ramp down from this year’s championship has been captured perfectly.

Lovely piece Willie Joe………Captures the big day perfectly. The brother and I travelled our respective distances to the homecoming yesterday really to say a big thanks to the lads……and of course to fellow fans and the throngs of young and old that were there, for the serious Championship journey and excitement this year. Sombre-ish mood but the evening sunshine, Cillian’s gracious and uplifting speech and a few smiles and bit of craic among the team onstage got all in good form again. Standout for me was the amazing table-thumping, blood pressure threatening exaltation from M Ring TD, in full flight and with an exceptionally loud vocal, as he reflected on the journey this year, praised our team from the heights and painted a vivid picture of future possibilities…….that man, and a megaphone, should be called upon for pre-match and half-time dressing room motivational duty…………….maybe as a runner on the sideline too !

Still very disappointed and I’ll carry that like all the other defeats like scars until we finally end the famine. But like you said WJ time keeps moving and hope springs eternal. As the smoke clears I’m beginning to really savour all the great moments we had from the year right up to the deafening moment that Leeroy blasted to the net on 63 minutes. I hope everybody comes back. It feels like unfinished business. Ok we didn’t get to the summit of Everest this time but we have not slipped back to its foot – we are merely back in the last camp waiting for conditions to clear.

Every passing day the disappointment will wane and before you know it, it will be early January and the days will start to lenghten again. Hope and excitement will start to grow and the dream will go on. Hope is a wonderful thing my Mayo friends.
Mayo Forever!

Hard to believe RTE thought it was a good idea to have Pat McAneaney on Sunday evening to tell us how fair McQuillan was.Irony of ironies.
Heard McHale say Thus night at roadshow he refuses to speak to him.I think he is correct in that.
McQuillan was downright unfair…it was a penalty…there should have been frees for timewasting…and the free before half time..pure joke.
Yes we contributed to our downfall but this constant unfairness of refs hard to take.
I do not accept Dublin are a better team…but I guess the ref has helped them write history.
Maybe Pat should review the tape.

This blog has been a godsend to all Mayo supporters..particularly it has to be said after a defeat when its easier to write than speak..Am amazed at how you manage to keep it all together WJ but you do and I for one am so grateful..MartyK I swear I wanted to hug Michael Ring after that speech..he was such a tonic..

I thought the exact same thing at the homecoming The next time we get to the final (and we will sooner than later) Michael Ring should be let loose in the dressing room at half time and have his William Wallace moment. Though in fairness the lads were prepared perfectly for the match. Fair play to them they did their best. Roll on January and the FBD

Good man Willie Joe. Searching for some glimmer of sunshine at the end of the tunnel over the past 48 hours and the blog is the only thing providing any source of comfort. You are every mayo supporters online mother at this time and in our darkest days the blog provides somewhat of a mothers hug that reminds us everything will be ok. Keep up the good work, I for one will be clinging on to every sniff of news, updates and rumours that this blog provides over the dark winter months. I can’t wait to get going for the 2018 season in 14 weeks or so. Counting down the days! We go again. #mayo4sam 2018.

I know it’s a bit too soon to be thinking about next year but now that kids are a bit older I really have the desire to hit the road to away(as well as home) league games etc and take them with me so they can get involved and enjoy the buzz with me. This team are gonna be there again next year, I’m sure of it.
I know of a few friends who have booked the citywest already for August 2018.
In any case I have a question about season tickets? I know they don’t go on general sale for Mayo but is the waiting list full and/or closed indefinitely or what is the procedure? Or is cairde maigheo the only other option?
Sorry Willie Joe if this is a little too off topic so to speak.

Great coverage all season WJ, thanks for all the time and effort you put in. Like everyone, I had the sickest of feelings leaving Croke Park on Sunday. There’s plenty of time over the coming months to dissect what happened when most fans will be in a better frame of mind. For now, the thought of another journey next season seems to be lifting the spirits! Maigh Eo Abú

Some of the AIG robots began to malfunction near the end of the first half when they realised they couldn’t cope with the intensity of Mayo, this caused them to shortcircuit and run into each other. McQuillan was quick to spot this and decided that action needed to be taken immediately so he decided to award a free.

Just watched the game back there. Jesus but they were on the ropes on 63 mins. It’s maddening. I felt loftus was clearly fouled in a crucial play in front of their goal towards the Cusack stand side just after that and then there was a scramble involving Durcan, and Dublin came away with it. It’s makes me more angry than ever about the Connolly free to win it. Ok it may have been a textbook free, of the soft variety. But Dublin Joe hadn’t blown for a free like that all game? He reffed it in a “let the game flow manner” then changes tack on 75 mins and gets all fussy to hand then an all Ireland winning free? Bullshit.
Both sides used 6 subs, I always thought it was 5? More subs suits the likes of Dublin of course with the deeper panel. Used to be only 3 subs, it’s gone like rugby now. Will soon be 7 or 8 no doubt.

Goodman Paddy in Dublin.
I’m not able to let go of this yet and I know I eventually will but two things are rattling around in my head like a stone in my shoe. Firstly, Con O’Callaghan took at least nine steps maybe eleven before he kicked the ba to score a goal. Secondly, There are actual photos of Eoghan O’Gara eye gouging Colm Boyle. Was there any mention of this on the Sunday Game? Ya, we contributed plenty to the result yesterday but don’t tell me Dublin Joe had a good game. He didn’t. Was Shoes challenge any worse than James McCarthys on him a few years back? Or any worse than MDMAs mid air headlock last year on Cillian O’Connor? Nope!

I think it’s important to remember that Mayo have consistently competed at the highest level over the last number of years. The fact that the greatest team in history – bar none, has just about managed to keep your great team at arms length, is something all genuine followers of GAA do recognise – don’t listen to the few clowns who say otherwise. When I analyse the merits of a team, I always look for individuals who naturally display pride, courage, conviction, and a never say die attitude – and Mayo have this in spades. I have no time for show ponies. Mayo have and always had those qualities, and it is these very qualities that keep them going – a desire to compete at the highest level, and be the best. So, be proud, content in the knowledge that every player did his damnest to get over the line. I see John Cuffe’s letter was penned on Indo. today – a very good read too..

@Man of Aran..It is very difficult to be content with knowledge of how much effort went into winning that game when you watch your team devastated in its wake…To know how much preparation that goes on behind the scenes and having watched them battle the odds through the back door only to lose by a point is gut wrenching..at best description..Appreciate your kind words about our wonderful warriors but unless I see Cillian walk up those steps all the words in the world are cold comfort..

We shouldn’t have to beat the ref. Dublin didn’t have to. All shit. So unfair. If Dublin joe did his job fairly and competently, our 8 wides wouldn’t matter a jot because we would have won anyway. Sick to the teeth of it. What do we have to do? We all knew it would be a tight match and we all knew what we would get from him. He did matter in a tight match and I don’t know how anyone could think otherwise. I don’t care what Jim McGuinness or anyone else says it’s not Mayo’s own fault. A match of millimetres, of course he had a big bearing – we didn’t win and we should have, even with our wasted chances. If the man did his job properly and fairly we would have won. This year we were good enough. Better team lost. I won’t be convinced otherwise by anyone.

Cork footballers played three All Ireland finals in 1987 and 1988 including a replay and came up short before reaching the promised land in 1989 (sorry) and 1990.
I think at crucial times Mayo lose composure as they really really want to win so much.
It is hard now but there will be a new dawn . Ye are so close .
Anyway this Dublin team is beatable and are not the greatest team of all time. They grind out results and have a huge panel.
They would not live with that great Kerry team and that is coming from a staunch Corkman!.
Well done on this blog as it must be a great place for supporters to discuss matters.

I watched the game on tv last night. We definitely had the winning of it. We played way better than ever before and we lost. At this stage everyone can point to the critical factors that undid us and I don’t need to expand upon them.
However, for me there is one huge realisation beginning to emerge – I believe we now have a team that is the equivalent of any team over the last 50 years that won not one but several all Irelands, including the current Dublin team! Could we yet go on to win an all Ireland or two? I definitely think so. Last year I would have said no but this last few weeks has been a revealation to me.
Still sad and disappointed but also very very proud and by God very hopeful for 2018.

I’m definitely in the ‘it’s taking longer to see the light’ camp I’m afraid. Age profile of players plus the feeling of how many chances do you need…aswell as our horrendous underage record this decade have me feeling gloomy.

I was looking at the u21 stats today. We won the Connacht u21 title in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. This pretty much built the team we have today.

His decade we’ve won one and didn’t even feature from 2010 to 2015. This is a big concern. We haven’t won a Connacht minor since 2014.

Where do people think we’re going to get the replacements in 2/3 years time when we really need them…

@Sinead..there was a comment left somewhere on the blog a couple of weeks ago saying the ref wont matter if youre good enough..Your post just reminded me of that..Remember comment ing at the time that the ref shouldnt matter but does…I havent changed my view and Sunday re enforced it for me..Thats three finals that he has reffed involving the 2 teams and all 3 Dublin came out of by a solitary point..But sure thats just a co incidence…Right?????

Mayonaze – I’m not sure what could be done at a practical level to display such support. I’ve always been supportive of him on here myself as have the vast majority of those who comment here. That’s kinda it as far as the blog goes.

Clearly, any decision about staying on is one for Stephen and the members of his backroom team to take. Stephen will know – and he voiced this again at the homecoming yesterday – that there’s a huge bond between the group of players he manages and the supporters and you’d have to hope this will have a major bearing on his decision.

I still won’t be watching it back though
God we are SO close
Hard to know how the super 8s and possible kickout rule change will affect the dynamics of the competition overall BUT I’m increasingly optimistic !

Don’t think we need a vote
If he wants to stay we will all be happy and it would be an awful shame for him to go without even a Connacht trophy BUT I do think it’s taking a heavy toll on him sadly
So it’s really up to him now
Hopefully the months rest helps him

That’s exactly it Regina! The ref shouldn’t matter but he does. He wouldn’t matter if we were being slaughtered but of course he matters in these close encounters. How can anyone think otherwise? His decisions/calls didn’t balance each other out. He did matter. The wrong team won! That’s not making excuses. We were and are good enough.

I hope you are right Diehard. You give me hope.

I do think there is a big chance Rochford will go. I hope he doesn’t but I will understand if he does.

I can’t watch the match yet, only watched Michael Maye’s video on Twitter. I was going to watch last year’s replay this year once we won on Sunday. Still have it and still can’t watch it. My Wexford husband wanted me to watch Sunday’s match on Sunday night. I couldn’t even watch the Sunday game. Part of me feels like watching it soon though as I actually feel like it was a positive experience. I felt we would win until the very end. Then it was hell and I lost it. My most enjoyable AI experience of my 11 in Croke Park. So I’m hoping I’ll be able to watch our amazing team’s amazing performance soon.

I agree with the general sentiment on Dublin Joe. It does seem strange how he misses nothing of any of our ‘misdemeanours’ but can’t seem to spot the GBH on Colm Boyle or the general roughing up of our lads throughout – a complete lack of protection that probably contributed to Donie Vaughan finally snapping when he did. To give a free to Dublin because Kilkenny and O’Gara collided with each other and miss a blatant penalty – on reflection he did have a poor game. But like in boxing you have to knock out the hometown fighter to win and we all knew that beforehand. Does the GAA and the ref not get what a Mayo win would have done for the game country wide? Why not leave Donie away with a yellow? Why not award the penalty to Lee? I guarantee you kids in Leitrim, Sligo, Carlow, Longford and Westmeath would be out kicking a ball buoyed by the novelty of a Mayo win and the hope it would give to counties of lesser populations. Sadly a lot of those may now turn back to English Soccer sickened by the sight of yet another inevitable win by the big boys. I pray that Stephen and the boys stay on. The county needs them and the rest of the country will be forever grateful if they can finish the job. The only one that needs to hang up his boots (and whistle) is Dublin Joe!

The Gaa are happy to have Mayo in finals, bringing such a huge following but they also want the game to thrive in Dublin, ie, to be played by more people than soccer or rugby, they are guaranteed full houses for Dublin home matches in Croker, therefore the Dubs will always get the big decisions in All Ireland finals.
Mayo always needed to have a cushion, ie ahead of Dublin by 4 or 5 points, I remember telling this to a South Mayo referee as far back as August 2013.
For me there’s no point in dissecting Joe McQuillans performance, it’s all over now. Maybe the Gaa want this Dublin team to beat Kerrys record of 4 in a row, hurling is the biggest threat to football at underage level here in Dublin, I know of some clubs now giving preference to hurling, St Brigids, Na Fianna. Ballymun Kickhams don’t have hurling at all and they had 4 players on the first 15 on Sunday.

Do we really need a vote on Rochford??Seriously??The man has put in a hell of an effort and held down a managerial job while having 2 small children at home..I for one think it would be desperate for us if he left..I really need to get off this blog now…

Mayonaze I see your point. However, too much can be made of underage teams. Galway have consistently won all-irelands at u-21 level (Paul Conroy etc) but that hasn’t translated to senior success. The same could be said for Galway hurlers before this year. The great Kerry teams of the noughties had no successful minor or u-21 teams feeding into them but they always found players. As long as we have a robust club system and good people involved in coaching we’ll be ok. It is important to keep nurturing talent however. The recent all-ireland u-21 winning Mayo team may give us a few more players yet.

I thought no one could beat ye in the final,such was the way ye played all summer. I have no doubt ye will be there or thereabouts again next year. I think the forwards have to learn to be more composed.They missed some good opportunities throughout the match,that would have kept them further ahead. I have never witnessed defending like Mayo did on Sunday,it was unbelievable in its brilliance. I think the ref, whoever it is,will always make mistakes, they wouldn’t matter if the forwards get a bit cuter as a unit. Ye had one hand on Sam,despite everything , and made up the dubs look very ordinary.Keep at it,hunger is a great sauce.Andy has years left in him, Billy Fitz came on in ’85 and kicked a great point,he was 41.

That would be an utterly pointless exercise, Maigh Eo go deo, and one I certainly have no interest in facilitating. Any Mayo supporter who doesn’t think Stephen should stay on needs his/her head tested and no poll is required to prove this!

Well done WJ in another season of great analysis… my heart fell all the way from the upper Davin on Sunday and didn’t stop falling until Tuesday morning… here’s hoping that there’s something we can tweak for next season to get us over the line… my thinking is that the “Super 8s” will be game time enough for us so let’s just go and win connacht hopefully after competing well in the league. The drama of this season whilst providing entertainment enough for us, should be avoided next season and less concentrate on developing our players to finally pull this monkey off our back…the despair of September will become the elation of August…our only misfortune will hopefully be that the end of the summer will seem premature because Sam will be home in Castlebar before September 1st… Maigh Eó go deo !!!

Game over ball burst we lost by the smallest margin possible.
We got a few dubious calls our selves (pardon the pun)
Its very important rochford stays on board anything else will set us back.
Rochford had all the newcomers out for the warm up,far play rochy.
We have the best brains in the gaa till we win we won’t get credit.

We won’t get much credit but to be honest we should only settle for outright success. Sam or bust. Mayo football needs to be at place where every year the ambition should be an All Ireland title. And it needs to be a realistic ambition.

I know, despite the ref, the game was for the taking and we were not as streetwise as Dublin at all in the last few mins. But still – aghhhhhhhhhhhhhgghhhh. I want to put down every profanity I can think of here.

Think I’m going to have a Mayo wake tomorrow. Kids going to their minder and I’m going to wallow in sorrow, try and watch the final and the Sunday game. I’m going to cry and curse the day away. Soooo glad I’m on parental leave until Halloween – hopefully by the time I go back, my friend Paul Flynn will have come and gone to my school with Sam for the bleep bleep bleeping 5th time.

Final post by me this year. Congrats to a fine dublin team on a magnificent achievement. I knew theyd be a different animal to kerry with all due respects to them too.
However i had no fear of dubs or bench as our lads have shown repeatedly that they have their measure but i doubt if thatll ever be fully acknowledged by media. I for one have avoided rte nonsense and most papers with exception of mcguinness who completely captured my thoughts. There is more solace and balance in the locals.I wont be singling anyone out for any type of criticism as it is of no use to anyone.
Our lads won the majority of the individual battles which should lead to victory and again i have to point the finger at mcquillan and his totally inept performace which i know is at odds with you Willie Joe and your post match report.
I ll ignore the ogara incident as thats well recorded but 2 frees in 1st half were a joke: kilkennys dive under the cusack and the last one before HT. Those werent the only soft frees they got either. And as for the penalty well that one speaks for itself. Deegan and Joe are real outliers in the gaa reffing world when compared to gough, nolan or branagan. There is no comparison.
As for Spillane saying mayo dont know how to win matches-was that fella really a teacher? BTW kerry and tyrone are the only 2 teams in rte’s infantile top 5 who have not beaten the dubs this decade. And as for Cavanagh-well the best thing i can say about him is its better to keep your mouth shut and be considered a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.
Thats it from me- rant over. It all starts again next Jan when hopefully we’re all ready to go again in search of the holy grail with SR and the lads on board.
BTW hats off to gamechanger and Martin the dub whose reasoned comments ive been impressed with. Hon Mayo and keep the faith.

I listened to a good discussion on gaa development funding on off the ball this evening. Sean Kelly, former gaa president was on. He reluctantly accepted that the current massive bias towards funding Dublin gaa at the expense of other teams, should be “looked at”. What really came through though, is his obsession with “growing the game in the capital”.
I’ve long been convinced there’s an over emphasis among gaa top brass on winning the battle with rugby and soccer in Dublin. The gaa are forgetting the true heartbeat of the association – rural clubs around Ireland. It’s not a fucking business. There’s 1.3 million people in Dublin. So fucking what if soccer is slightly more popular there than Gaelic. Are Dublin going to struggle to field a team if they lose some money and it’s spent elsewhere in other counties? Don’t be daft.
In most counties we can’t even provide a schedule of club fixtures for ordinary young people to play in. We are losing players in droves. Why not try grow participation levels around Ireland, especially at adult level. We’re lucky in Mayo, we gave heroes for our kids to emulate. But in 27 counties, the kids heroes are Eden hazard and zlatan ibrahimovic. That is the real problem for the gaa.

Larry Duff…and this is exactly why Mayo GAA or someone associated needs to tap into the massive support kids in Mayo have for our senior football team. Get them playing. Time passes quickly! The kids who are 10 year olds today will be u-17 before you know it. We need to create a conveyor belt of talent. As mentioned a few times, the first objective should be to have all garlic football playing primary kids going into 2nd level capable of kicking equally with both left and right. It’s an aspect of the game which is untapped. Most senior inter county players struggle off their weaker foot. We should strive to be at a point by 2023 where every player on all underage teams is equally competent kicking and hand passing off both sides. The benefits are obvious.

Seiriously, the debate about funding and structure within our County is important. But the most vital aspect of Mayo football at the moment, is to ensure managment stay on for a further year at least. Kerry are sniffing around Buckley like a dog in heat, while im sure McEntee will be offered countless jobs over the winter. Let the County board ensure every demand is met, and if “expenses” ahem, are a stumbling block, then I hope watever resources are available are tapped into. We are so close, continuity is whats needed now.

If we manage to win Connacht, the super 8’s woukd see us in the same group as the Munster champions (plus 2 qualifiers). If we top the group, then we would be possibly in a semi final against the runners up of the other group. I’d bet the farm that we be playing the Dubs in another final next year…..providing all managment and players stay on board.

We kicked double their wides.
The closing stages of the first half we were on a roll but Paddy Durkan kicked an easy wide, COC kicked that free and open play shot wide both scorable. Lee Keegan a scorable into Cluxton’s hands and Andy close to goal shot one up into the air and tailed wide.
Two points clear with 5/6 mins to go instead of adding a few scores Dublin scored three to go one ahead.
I am sorry I do not want to sound argumentative but the referee is not to blame, nor anyone else, only our inability to convert scorable chances and that’s the only post match analysis that’s matters, the bare facts!

Swahilli… We are both on the same side,… But I, having watched for one more time, that’s making it 6 time’s, and considering that every TV camera in Croke Park was trained on the late Dean Rock free, there is absolutely no evidence that Lee Keegan threw anything at all in the direction of Dean Rock or the ball.. It’s not the first time that I have mentioned the great and late singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen on this blog… His song ‘Everybody Knows’.. contains the line…’ ”everybody knows that the dice is loaded,… everybody knows that the good guy’s lost ‘… I wrote it last Friday on this blog about the,’ Air Corp fly over ‘ with its association with Jim Gavin, and Dublin Gal, Imelda May playing at half time…. Let me tell you that everything makes a difference.. Mayo have magnificent support and not only from Mayo people.. I expect we are many people’s second team.. At the homecoming I seen, some Donegal fan’s there to help cheer us up, and some Galway hurling fan’s that I know personally… Mayo have this… But Dublin, wield incredible power… And getting the Irish Air Corp to do a flyover after the national anthem, had only one objective, it was to give Dublin something of a boost….. Nelson Mandela who was the then president of South Africa had the same thing done to help South Africa win the Rugby World Cup… The same with Imelda May and her blue flower…. Dublin have won the last 6 All Ireland finals they have played in… 5..by a single point… Look at the reffing in them all, from Tyrone in 1995,.. (playing with a man that had been sent off and getting away with it, and then disallowed a perfectly good equaliser because the Ref erroneously said that a Tyrone player had touched the ball on the ground) =Kerry, 2011,(how did Father Ger Brennan stay on the field?) . Mayo, 2013, 2016 & 2017… Every 50/50 decision has gone Dublin’s way.. & too many blatantly wrong decisions to list again.. Even against a team that I find very hard to feel sorry for.. Kerry…, Something seriously wrong!

Leantined , I believe you . Completely. I only saw the pictures of the “black ” gps ” flying object “in the paper and the reports from McMahon and McCarthy about same . With a picture and two witnesses and no denial yet from Lee I think the jury is out on this .

Are ye for real, its clear as.day the gps was thrown by keegan,it was also why all the scuffles broke out after free kick,ridiculous to try justify ,he threw it and it was wrong. It backfired on us imo, wasted loads of time and forced clarke indirectly to hit out over the line.

Willie joe. Thank you most sincerely for managing this superb blog which is great for us exiles. Last Sunday my missus of 35 years and a dub was in croke park for the first time and observing her conduct was interesting Firstly. Of course she is a mayo supporter. She shouted her head off much more than I did. She saw all the Dublin fouls that the ref didn’t. She took defeat worse than I did. She finally understands after all these years why I never want to plan September holidays. Let’s hope all the panel and Stephen give it another go next year. Is feidir linn.

Willie Joe – I just thought a vote would show that we are behind him, even though a lot of people on here (excluding me) were giving out about him a lot from the Galway defeat right up to the first game against Kerry. I was one of the few voices here defending him and saying that we should just let him do his thing.

As someone above said they are in the anger stage of the grieving process…there is a definite shift in the tone of the last 2 days. For what its worth – and thats not a lot – as a non-Mayo person at the match on Sunday (but who was like most non-Mayo people shouting for Mayo) I can’t see how that the ref was biased on Sunday. in a one point defeat there are going to be numerous incidents going one way or the other some of the key ones I observed:

1. andy M pulled his man to the ground straight in front of the ref before darting off gathering a short free and turning to pop it over the bar
2. Like most people in the stadium I thought con o callaghan definitely over carried the ball for the Dublin goal – having watched it again a few times I’m not convinced about that. For the last couple of steps the ball was actually not in his hands as he threw it out to the right to make the angle for himself on the goal.
3. I thought there was a strong case for Lee Keegan penalty but i’m not certain as to when the ref blew the whistle. This one raises a question about the rules that I am happy to be guided on – there was an initial foul – advantage was played and then a subsequent foul. Is the ref obliged to bring the play back to the initial foul or can he give it from where the subsequent foul was? I would have thought the former.
4. Throw in for the second half – i thought O shea was fouled to allow mccarthy free reign. Dublin got a point off it.
5. Connolly free at the end was a free – i can’t see how anyone can argue this point. Barrett was a phenomenon the whole game but I think he will be a bit disappoitned he was a bit rash there.
6. The free that COC missed off the post at the end came about as a result of the linesman giving a line ball to Mayo that was definitely a Dublin ball. Having said that I thought the free should have been another 2 or 3 yards nearer the Dublin goal.
7. May have been a case for a Doherty penalty with Cluxton – much less obvious than the one dean rock didn’t get in the league final. Thought it was 40/60…if it was a inconsequential league match you might have got it but didn’t think you would ever get this in an AI final no matter who the ref.
8. like to see it again but I thought Dean Rock took too many steps for his fisted point where he came in from the side.
9. In general extremely difficult to keep up with all the off the ball stuff – one thing I really cant stand this thing all teams seem to do now – a forward scores a point and the first thing they do is run for their marker and hit them a shoulder or push them back….what is that all about. Do lads really need to be at that sh*Te to keep themselves fired up.
10. The pulling down at the end was clearly ocherstrated by Dublin – but again it was really hard for the ref to do anything – he gave kilkenny a black card but impossible to pick out all the incidents – i think he tried to compensate for this by playing an extra 2 minutes but mayo just couldn’t get the ball back.

you can pick out incidents in every game that go one way or the other but I don’t think there is any value in Mayo being too vocal about the ref on this one – this was no limerick 2014 – there were a lot of reasons that had nothing to do with the ref you could point to i think are more pertinent.

Blaming Imelda May and the Air Corps… seriously? I understand the need to lash out at the perceived unfairness of it all but we must accept the cold hard truth that Dublin were a shade better on the day. Yes it was ****ing sickening to see all the antics at the end of the game, but the fact of the matter is we would be ‘managing’ the game ourselves had we been in a winning position going into injury time. For us to win we have to play at close to 100% and make little to no mistakes at all, whereas Dublin can play at 80-90% and chances are they will be still be in a position to win come the last 5 minutes. They have the breadth and depth we simply don’t have. That’s what’s really got me down over the last few days, the fact that our players played out of their skins and left everything on the field and it still wasn’t enough. What more can we do? There’s no quick fix that will land us an All-Ireland in these times of a dominant Dublin team, just as there wasn’t when Kerry were at the height of their powers in the noughties. It all comes back to the boring detail of the need to produce the players who will get us over the line. We have a squad of 15 who are good enough to win an All-Ireland but we don’t have these kind of players on the bench. Dublin have them and that ultimately is what made the difference. Bringing on Danny Kirby and Ger Cafferkey in injury time, what exactly is that going to achieve for us?

It is imperative that we blood as many players as possible in the league and even throughout the championship. We cannot expect to win with these same core group of players unless they have the support they need from the bench. Four times we’ve tried now and it hasn’t worked. Who knows, we could get lucky next year, but in a championship that’s drowning under the blue tide it’s something that’s going to be in short supply for us.

All that being said, there are immediate controllables for us to consider. Are we now over-compensating after years of being seen as a ‘nice’ or ‘softer’ team? Twice this year blatant strikes in front of the ref have cost us dearly in matches. I would focus on that before the referee.

I genuinely haven’t seen the alleged eye gouging incident – if there is evidence of it produced then I think O Gara should be getting minimum 6 months/10 competitive matches. Its absolutely disgusting if this is what our games have come to. But honestly I haven’t seen it and you can be certain ref didn’t see it so hard to knock him on that one. In truth there should have been a free every 20 seconds in that final with all the off the ball stuff that was going on so you could probalby list another 50 incidents.

Ha ha, good one Mayo Dunphy!:) i said to someone yesterday, that it was my 11th time walking out of Croke park on final day without a victory. All these defeats (bar the two draws and the hammering in 04/06) have raised various issues, the refs, off the ball incidents, management calls, missed opportunities etc. At this point I’ve learned that pouring over them is a futile exercise and only makes things more painful. We are not the players; we can’t learn from mistakes. But we are supporters and can claim to be the best supporters in the land. We have thousands at games and a massive groundswell of passionate Mayo people backing this team and management. At most games we have an edge over competitors as we greatly outnumber most of them but the question I have is can we as a group do more for the cause than merely attending and being vocal at games? We’ve poured heaps of money into the GAA coffers funding other counties in doing so. Mayo Dunphy said it in an earlier post, that the debate about funding and structure is what is important now and he’s right! Ask yourself, what can we, the hardcore Mayo fan base, do to drive Mayo GAA forward?? I’m at a point where showing up at league and championship matches being my sole input doesn’t feel like it’s enough. At the very least, I’d gladly put my hand in my pocket on a monthly basis to support an initiative which directly serves to fund a coordinated and efficiently run youth development programme. Mayo GAA MUST tap into the huge support it now has and come up with a new idea, the goal of which should be to create the best underage structure in the country rather than the token and non-coordinated efforts that are currently in existence. We as Mayo supporters should attempt in some shape or fashion to establish a vocal, active single group; one which will support Mayo GAA in terms of ideas, implementing strategies and funding.

There’s absolutely no reason why Mayo cannot and should not be operating at the ‘top table’ at all levels on a permanent basis. We have the numbers to compete with most counties, we sure as hell have the interest and passion, with the amount of supporters(private individuals and corporate in Ireland and overseas) we should never lack for anything financially. All the ingredients are there for Mayo to dominate if only it can all be harnessed together and channeled appropriately. That’s what the goal should be. In this sense a full time paid Director of Football should be an absolute starting point.

WJ, you do an absolutely superb job on this blog. I would say its second to none, nationwide. You have gained a tremendous reputation and clearly have an unending passion for Mayo. I’m sure by now you could be rightly deemed as being ‘well connected’ in the world that is Mayo gaa. I believe from previous comment that your boundaries are limited to this blog and being the orthodox fan, albeit a special one. But maybe we as Mayo supporters, and the people who check in here on a regular basis over the past number of years, maybe we need to step out of our comfort zone and use the passion and desire we have to assist in driving Mayo forward.

Sean Burke, your deluding yourself if you think Lee throwing a gps, is to blame for Clarke hammering the ball over the sideline. In a sick twist of Irony, that kick nearly justifies Rochfords decision from last years replay.

This Dublin AI is tainted, not due to imelda may, air corp, Joe, money (this one really is people in glass houses stuff, compare our team expenses to all counties not just Dublin) and all the litany of bullshit excuses we’ve seen on this blog over the past few days. We’ve contested a lot of AI finals since 1989, some where we were shit, some where we were ok and some where we could not should have won. This AI like 1996 is tainted as in both years the better team has not won on the day. This is the source of my great sorrow and heartbreak. I am immensely proud of everyone involved and I for one will not be chest out and head high on the back of their achievements this year.

On the Stephen point – I really hope he and the whole backroom team stay, they’ve been amazing. I did think when Horan left we’d be in a bit of trouble but (with upmost respect for the paradigm shift he oversaw) I think it’s clear that we’ve been brought on even further since then. That said, I’d of course respect his decision – he’s already given so much!

Just on Mayo football ..I live in the midlands and get home about every 3 weeks . One thing that always strikes me is all the kids either wearing their club or Mayo tops …and that could be in January ..up here it’s mostly man united or Chelsea ….they interest is there and we can thank this special group for that !

I feel a lot better today than yesterday (mon). Was just numbish after the game other a little angry at mcquillan taking the easy option rather than award the penalty (I sometimes question what are rules for if they are disregarded- fist pass, 4 steps – would tell all players now to keep running for at least 6/7 steps and just throw the ball of you are in trouble while just making a flicking motion with your other hand – this applies to all games now ) . Well i spent the day yesterday on social media, something I haven’t done in years, and my god was it a generally horrible experience. It was a day of confrontation with depraved trolls who should have been rejoicing at their teams phenomenal accomplishment of 3 in a row titles but preferred engaging in the online mauling of mayo players, people and country people in general. Yes I know I know I shouldn’t have taken the bait, never again but I had to defend our honour I know hoards of the soundest dubs you could meet ever, great gaa people. But what was being put into electronic words yesterday by some of the blue boys was disgusting. Be gracious in defeat, well the same applies for victory.
You are right Willie Joe, all we want now for our team is to be given the respect they deserve. If I hear another “Dublin didn’t turn up again” comment I will personally floor the orator. The sense of grievance yesterday has yielded again to the sense of massive f..ing pride. We didn’t get the Oscar but everyone knows our film has the best story……..

“If, during the advantage period, another foul is committed against the team which received the original advantage, then a free kick/puck will be awarded for the “second” foul if it is considered more advantageous than the original”

Great post Mayonaze, your words are on the money. We need to pipe the reservoir of support into something useful and coordinated. Underage is suffering, and in rural areas in the county amalgamation is a necessity. The greater numbers in our major population centres might warrant the creation of new club’s if only at underage. We need all of our potential young players to be afforded the opportunity to play no matter where the live.

Mayonaze – agree with what you say – we as supporters can and should do more.
if it’s only to give a bit more or to help out with the fundraising effort or whatever, we know the issue is one of small margins. If the smallest contributions have any positive impact, it’s worth it.

Can we look to put such a group together?. I can start a whatsapp group of interested parties. once we have the relevant contacts together, we can talk about what we can do be it in person, a phone call or whatever.

to add to my last comment – a whatsapp group isn’t going to be the end of my contributions hopefully, but if we can get the interested parties together, define as to who can do what and where everyone is, we can look to decide on how to do what we need to do.

From what Larry Duff is quoting above in relation to the advantage rule – then it was a clear cut penalty and the referee was within his rights to give the penalty. FFS just when I was getting over it – I am mad again – what could have been.

Cantini…if you get a chance to see the line ball incident where Cooper hit the ball from Conor Loftus’s hands, it spilled but hit off Cooper’s legs on it’s way out and the correct decision was made despite the redness of Cooper’s face and the elevation of the hair on his head as he stamped up and down. Read Jim mc Guinness’s article and thought of a headline…. Mayo not bad enough to beat Dublin,, but it’s not as funny as I thought.

Please stop complaining about the ref. Apart from the decision before half-time (which he balanced out when he gave a soft free to Doherty early in the second half). For Cillians final free 2 decisions went Mayo’s way. The line-ball should have gone to Dublin and the softest free of the day was awarded to Cillian. Vaughan sending-off was the correct call. The ref wasn’t the scapegoat on this occasion.

Glad to hear you’re in better fettle WJ. Have to say, I’m not! But the pain normally eases as the week goes on.
Haven’t even had the stomach to read a single newspaper yet. The one and only piece I read online was Jim McGuinness’s one from Monday. It was hard to read, but I couldn’t argue with much of it. Some sobering thoughts at a time when I was far from sober.

This blog has been a constant though. I was on it the day after the match and have read pretty much everything on it so far. That’s testament to yourself. An incredible job you’ve done here. It was good to see some respectful comments from other counties as well. I’m sure there were some piss-takers and trolls that tried to get though, but again, it’s testament to the job you do here that you manage to stop these at source.

Can’t even begin to dissect the game yet, it’s be covered in detail here already.
The Sunday Game is available to watch over here in the UK from Wednesday’s. I’m trying to muster the courage to give it a watch when I get in!
There’s one advantage to living over here, there’s not a sole at work who wants to talk about the game! Grand with me.

Just to say, massive thanks to all the players and everyone associated with the mad roller-coaster we’ve been on this summer. It’s been the most memorable year of football I’ve ever known.
We didn’t get the glorious ending we all craved, but that doesn’t detract from the immense pride we all feel for these players. They’re heroes, each and every one of them and my heart goes out to them after Sunday. Thanks lads.

Mayonaze – great post – I agree with you 100% – it’s feels like Mayo GAA must engage and make the most of the support and interest that they now have.
The type of person that can coordinate and successfully execute this are not just hanging around but they are out there that’s for sure :-).
Would also be interested in what you propose in the group. 🙂

Ah now…can’t agree with you on this one we left behind in my view is 2013 or last year’s first match. We literally couldn’t have given any more last Sunday. We played so so well but as is the norm in games like that the Dubs didn’t panic & did what they usually do to us. Reel us in! I swear I think there’s something to this theory that we can’t deal with being ahead to them. We are better off chasing them. I dunno what poster mentioned it but we probably should have switched leeroy to Connolly as Connolly was able to fill Kilkennys role too easily. He was a steadying influence on the team too. Bizarre for him. Leeroy completely snuffed out KK but I do think leeroy should have been switched especially given how much ball Connolly was getting on. Anyway lots to think about and be positive about for next year. Have a bad feeling Stephen wont stay though.

I hear you, Mayonaze but, believe me, I’m well out of my comfort zone in this area already. The time I spend on Mayo GAA via the blog isn’t funny at several levels at this stage and there’s simply no way I could commit to any new initiatives of that kind right now. Happy to facilitate, publicise etc. but I just don’t have the time for anything more.

As much as it pains me to say it but we can blame no one but our selves. We had more than enough of the ball, we created enough good scoring chances, and should have the game sewn up long before that late Dublin free. That’s the hardest bit to take, very few of the so-called experts gave us a chance and yet against the best team ever to play the game we showed once again that we can live with the best of them. But unless we learn to take a bigger percentage of our chances, we’ll always struggle to win the big one.

I’ve been a long time wondering on that rule. and suppose wasn’t too hard to find. Yeah, I would say it should have been a penalty then assuming he hadn’t blown whistle before Keegan got the ball….if Diarmad o Connor had actually hit the net with the breaking ball it would be even more controversial.

Wrt to the GPS incident – i think it is pretty obvious that it did happen and Keegan appeared to be the only one in the vicinity. This might sound terrible to some but I kind of admire his ingenuity in coming up with that – he has a real win at all costs mentality and if it worked we would be looking at a replay now – i’m sure he’d be forgiven pretty quickly by all but Paul Kimmage ….the joe.ie pictures are clear enough to show it certainly wasn’t a frog in croke park…

Remarkable column by Darragh O Se today in Irish times. Essential reading for everyone. Says that Mayo are effectively the third greatest side ever behind Kerry of the 70s/80s and the current Dublin team. He specifically says that Mayo and Dublin are the two best sides of the last 30 years and both are well ahead of not only 2003-2008 Tyrone but his also his own kerry team of the 2000s. Says we are desperate unlucky to be around same time as Dublin though. It’s nice to see a bit of overdue recognition from outside the county, although it’s scant consolation without Sam. He feels its highly likely Mayo will be back again at this level in 2018 too. Finally, he said he was almost jealous how good tom parsons was the last day and stated he never reached a performance level like that in an all Ireland final throughout his career. High praise from a guy I regard as one of the top 3 most influential players I’ve ever seen play the game.

Watched it again. There was nothing in it really. We might have been marginally better. We played the better football overall. It all just went wrong in the extra time. Pulling Andy off was a big call. But he was probably tiring alright. The loss of Keith and Kevin to injury was a blow. Especially when needing to pull that point back. I think it showed what we all feared .. that the bench wasnt really strong enough when it was in the melting pot.
The ref.. as WJ said he gave us a fair crack at it. He did give us a chance to equalize ..

I’m in awe of these lads as footballers and men.
They will be back next year.
It about developing a stronger bench.

Folks – I’ve setup an email address to try to gather together a group of folks to see about getting people who are interested together and see what, if anything, we can do. Everyone is busy, this isn’t a recruitment for full time roles.
If you can send an email to:mayogaavolunteers@gmail.com

with the following details:
Name, phone number for now, any twitter handles etc and where you live (County or City would be fine, don’t need your Eircode or the likes)

Ocides 1.
Those 2 for me would fall into the could have won section. If we had played to our full potential we would have won both. We could have played better in both. I agree that on Sunday we couldn’t have given anymore. That’s my point really.
Connolly took a while to get going but you’re right he had a huge influence when he did and as you say a bizarrely calming one.

Keegan was dead right. He’ll do anything to win and I love him for it. Wouldn’t blame the dublin forwards at the end at all, I’d be expecting our lads to do the same. We lost this game by the width of a post. I’ve no doubt had Cillian sent it over, we would have held on. Thats all that was between us. Regain Connacht next year, and I’ve no doubt we’ll be back in the final.

Can anyone explain how the semi finals work? Is it the top 2 teams from each group play the opposite group? Like Mayo and Kerry to be paired with Dublin Tyrone. With first playing second so if Mayo and Dublin top their groups, Mayo would play Tyrone and Dublin play Kerry in semis?????

Ulitar…. I spoke about the reasons for the the Air Corp flyover and Imelda May singing last Friday night on the Blog…this was pre match, and I stick to my guns….. The reasons were to give Dublin every tiny advantage possible……. Your theory that Dublin only needed to be at 60/80% and Mayo 90/95%.is rubbish…. That’s the reason why so many of the teams that play Dublin are beaten before the throw in… And while I agree that Dublin are well superior to most teams and, the hammering are the result of the opposition crumbling and believing in their own inferiority as much as Dublin superiority… Even Tyrone…. Maybe Mickey Harte should consider apologies to the Tyrone fans, with there theory on winning the game, by defending a 7 point deficit with a blanket defence.. To use a boxing apology…. It’s tantamount to throwing the fight.. I seen Bernard Dunne, (back room member of the Dublin senior team) in Breaffy House resort, not just getting beaten, in a boxing match, but absolutely hammered… And the decision was given to Bernard…. The after fight talk was typical Dublinesque afterwards, applauding the wrong decision and lauding the merits of a man who did get his victory on merit… This is the case with Dublin for as long as I can remember, from the disgrace of the 1983 and All Ireland final, you are codding yourself if you think that you will hear anything impartial from most of the media… And if you allow such taughts as that Dublin only needs to be at 60/80%__& that Mayo need to be at 90/95% for Mayo to win, you are in your own mind conferring a superiority to Dublin and a inferiority to Mayo before the ball is thrown in… Maybe that is your belief, and subconsciously the belief of the referee and his excuses for umpires…. It certainly makes it easier for them to give the Lion’s share of the decisions in Dublin’s favour… There is no way that the reffing and even more so, those who masquerading as umpires, was impartial last Sunday…. Dublin ecpect to get the Lion’s share of everything, including referee decisions…. And they get them…. Hard question’s need to be asked as to why that is.

MayoDunphy.. That’s how I believe it will work alrite. A long way to go before we meet the Dubs in a semi though.. We have to maintain where we are now and add onto that.. In other words hold core players and complete mgmt. team and then find 4/5 more players who can cut it at Senior Level. .Not to sound at all gloomy but all that is a big ask is it not?? Maybe its just my mood today..On a lighter note met a fellow Mayo supporter at the ATM on Monday night.. He tried to book Citywest for next year on Monday morning to no avail.. We are obsessed.

Ok, I’ve a list of positives and negatives, I’ll start with the negatives.

Have to agree with a lot of Cantini said earlier re reffing decisions, thought he did ok overall, only ones I’d have issues with are the free before HT and Rock’s fisted point by the endline, was right in front of me and I was screaming for steps at the time. At the end of the day we shot ourselves in the foot when the game was there for us, Donie seeing red/Dohertys goal chance and O’Connors missed free in first half spring to mind.

On O’Gara’s gouging, I think the smile on his face says all we need to know. Unfortunately, Yes Lee did throw the GPS, seen him fling something at the time, thought it was a clump of muck or tape, desparation I suppose, happy they didn’t miss the free as a result TBH as we would never hear the end of it.

Dublin fans-While I acknowledge we have a fair few eejits oursleves, thought some of their actions on their day were a disgrace. To the scumbag in 316, Row N who gave the Mayo fan a bloody lip, shame on you, not what the game is about, fair play to the two Dublin lads behind the Mayo fan who called the perpetrator out on it, something along the lines of ‘it’s because of scumbags like you we are despised across the country’, if I was a bit closer to them I would have shook their hands.
To the gobshites (Dublin and Mayo fans) commenting on Facebook articles/Independent/Journal the last few days, show a bit of respect, two brilliant teams, best I’ve seen in my lifetime, not an inch between them. Arrogance and downright scutter (bottlers, scumbags etc) being thrown at some of the Mayo players the last day has been unacceptable. I’ve serious respect for their team and what they have achieved (with or without advantages) but I’d have to say otherwise for a large degree of their fans.

Mayo fans-Brilliant overall, but sweet Jesus something needs to be done about the ticketing situation, Mayo lads beside and behind me the last day hadn’t a bulls notion what was going on whilst thousands of genuine supporters left outside, heartbreaking to see. And to the Mayo ‘fan’ behind me who attempted to grab my shoulder to sit me down at one point, f**k you.

GAA/finances etc- If you haven’t already listened, I suggest you have a listen to Euan McKenna’s podcast on Off the Ball today https://t.co/bwbeKHWpuB Very interesting insight to the corruption and bullshit that is going on. Also as somebody alluded to, seriously something needs to be done about Dublin having two home matches next year in the Super 8’s, in what other sport would this advantage be allowed year upon year, send them down to Cork ta fuck for their ‘neutral’ game. If they complain about ground capacities like they have in the past tell them where to go, do you see the likes of major soccer/rugby teams demanding stadium changes where ticket supply wont meet demand?

Positives (Finally)
I sincerely hope we are able to keep Rochford/McEntee/Buckley in place, firmly believe they are the best in the business, Barrett’s tackling the last day had Buckley written all over it.

Supporters-Despite my comment in the negatives section about the few ludars around me the last day, the support overall was excellent, it’s getting bigger and better every year and that can only be a positive for us.

Players. This is the really important one. We have a serious panel of 26 in my view. A few tweaks are all that’s needed. We simply have to blood a lot of lads in the league, and I mean a run of 3-4 consecutive games for a lot of lads, can never judge a lad on one game. I don’t see why the likes of Akram can’t be fired in straight away when you see the likes of Con O’Callaghan thriving, you think Kerry will be afraid to use the likes of Clifford next year? Youth are very often fearless and these lads are winners.

Really think a few older heads (with or without previous panel experience) need to be given a run of games i.e. Douglas, Shane Scott, Nally, Hennelly, Kirby, Crowe, Regan, Conor O’Shea, even Freeman if he was willing, always believed he was a pure confidence player.

We have a lot of lads coming through who need to be given a chance, Reape, Irwin, Boland, Ruane, Akram, two O’Donoghues, Flanagan, Prendergast, Plunkett, Cunniffe. If even a couple of these could make the cut then that could be the difference next year.

Cantini, I think it’s pretty safe to say that the vast majority of Mayo people are not blaming the ref and I think that’s well understood, even by non-Mayo folk.
We are holding our heads very high and have every reason to. We’re all feeling low right now and it’s understandable that we’ll agonise over the ‘what ifs’ and the calls that went for and against us in the match. That’s very natural in the immediate aftermath of another 1 point defeat. Bear with us.

The fog of disappointment is slowly lifting, and in the tough days ahead for the players a show of defiance by sticking together is what will propel this Team forward. There’s nothing the Dublin Team or Media would want more than to see this band of brothers go their separate ways. It was Greg Norman that once said “The Nature of any True Competitor is becoming more determined with every defeat”. Last Sunday showed us all how close we are to winning an All Ireland, stick to the same template lads, Drive on, Believe, success awaits you!
Thanks for this Blog, I have been following since it was set up. This is my first ever comment, I feel for the players but 100% believe that they can regroup and settle old scores. There is unfinished business that needs to be dealt with and victory will be all the more sweeter this time next year when we rejoice in a job well done and the ultimate prize in our possession.

Willie Joe I met Mayo people whose knowledge of clubs and players was decent purely because of the blog. They told me thats how they stay up to date.
An interesting angle I think Mayo management could take next year is to put some older players on the bench and get another two seasons from them.
Seamus OShea, Andy and Keith Higgins.
The peak Mayo selection available is 2018 and 2019.
Still peak years of 2007/2008 minors and the 2013/14/15/16 minors will be 21 – 24.
2019 we might still have Andy, Seamus and Keith if we have saved their legs with a bench role.

Leantimes, I stand by what I said (I notice you misquoting me on percentages also). I don’t care about Mickey Harte or Tyrone, or the reasons why other teams crumble against the Dubs. The rationale is this, they can afford to leave the likes of Connolly and Brogan on the bench, have Kilkenny completely nullified, lose John Small, McCaffrey etc. etc. That kind of loss would be near fatal for other teams but yet the Dubs are in the mix with 70 minutes gone. They have proven match-winners to bring on when the game is heading down the narrow strait. Contrast that with us. Diarmuid O’Connor and Stephen Coen, great. But how much can we honestly expect from David Drake, and from bringing on Ger Cafferkey and Danny Kirby in injury time? Conor Loftus is not at the level yet where he will win you an An-Ireland. That is not me in thrall to the Dubs whatsoever, I am just trying to call it as I see it, objectively. Let’s say Imelda May and Air Corps don’t feature at all, does that change any the above? Donie Vaughan getting sent off had much more of an impact than anything you mentioned in your post and that’s the kind of thing we must focus on.

Seamus O’Shea came off too early, Boyler came off too early, David Drake in for Doherty meant that we hadn’t an instinctive forward to react to Cillian’s free off the post.

In the drawn game last year and the final this year David Clarke gave away possession in every one of his last five kick outs. Let that sink in, FIVE, the last five.

This is a fact and it’s indisputable.

The kickout over the line the last day has to go down as one of the worst kick outs ever. It was neither short nor long and went out fully on the fly. He doesn’t have the kicking game to win the big games.

Chris Barrett was jumping up and down looking for the short one but he chose to go long, or was it short, it was hard to tell.

Of course what Vaughan did was wrong but fast forward ten mins and Clarke had the dead ball and we were level. I can’t believe nobody else is pointing this out.

Regina, from what I gathered on a GAA website, Connacht/Munsrter champions one group, Leinster/Ulster in the other. This is all hpothetical of course, but If we and Dublin topped our groups, we wouldn’t possibly meet until the final.

I agree with you about managment, if they go, we’re facing an uncertain rebuilding phase. The most important aspect now is to keep them in place. Only player I can see going is Dillon. Clarke is 33 but a goalkeeper! (Cluxton is 35). Andy Moran will win poty and will surely stay on. I personally think if we could get Akram, Reape and new midfielder to start games for 50mins, we’d be in seirious shape with the likes of Moran, Boyle and Seamie coming in off the bench. I think it wud get us over the line.

Lots of reading to do here from over the past three days and I haven’t had the heart to look at any of it. Just waiting for the clouds to start lifting.

I think this is quite possibly one of the hardest losses to take, but feel that given what we have been through already, we’re probably better equipped to deal with it.

In no way blaming the ref for this one, but I have to say, Dublin’s behaviour in the last five minutes sticks in the craw. But that’s how you win games, isn’t it? And credit to them for being smart enough to do it and get away with it yet again despite not being “that kind of team.” Linesmen throughout the game have a lot to answer for – as has been the case all season.

What do we do? Retreat, recover, regroup and go again. And we will.

On a separate note, I’m disappointed to see Elverys here has taken down the (token) Mayo GAA jersey they had on their window in the aftermath of Sunday’s defeat. Incredibly, there isn’t a hint of green and red visible at this point, and they didn’t even bother to put a flag out last week. Have they forgotten that Elverys are supposedly “proud sponsors” of our all or teams? Surely they should be pushing the boat out on this, and surely our ladies team deserve even a token acknowledgement?

FBD that’s a very noble idea but I’m not sure what we can do except go to matches and shout the lads on and go to club games and bring young fellas to training etc the county board need to get a fundraising manager in place for a start anyway what do you have in mind? Time permitting I’d be willing to help the cause in any way I can

I agree with Cantina,we were very close but refs fault, ninety six and Limerick were refs fault,and I have called plenty refs in my time so I feel we should say he made mistakes for both sides,as to Stephen staying I believe that it is essential that he stays,perhaps the county board can help by putting more resources into the management team for instance having driver’s for someone who have a long way to travel, on funding I don’t know how much they get from Croke Park but would feel a reasonable sum for both finalists would be one million each and say a quarter of a million each for the minor teams with another half million to be given to the players fund for the senior teams,if that is not forthcoming I think that maybe that is where the county board may need assistance, which could then help with improvement of the panel

Lean times
Well said
You are bang on there, Mayo are 5-7 points better than dublin
to get a penalty v dublin with mcquill – or deeg, refereeing ,
there is not a hope ,the two dubs collide and they get a free ,the
carry on in the last minutes has got nothing to do with sport, the gaa is
on its last legs , he will be the referee again next year no doubt about this
he will be going for a 4 timer with the dub in charge, it is a farce as regards
fair play, putting the “96 ref on the box a real insult to Mayo and to fair play
1983 -1985 enough said .The big screen in Castlebar was good ,it was heartening
to see all the young ones wearing Mayo tops. One hopes that Mayo can do it
before it falls down around their ears. slan

BackDoorSam, it’s just about getting likeminded proactive people together who can potentially support and drive initiative. There’s no reason why it cannot lead to positive medium and long term results for Mayo football.

BackdoorSam – at this stage just trying to get people together to see if we can help improve things for the common cause.
As regards what exactly we can do, I don’t have a precise answer, but I’m hoping that a few like minded people getting together can create a plan for how we can make a contribution.

It might only end up being a lift sharing exercise for all I know, but getting another person to a game they might have missed to help with the shouting on of the team would only be a good thing too.

I can’t, in all fairness, take credit for that, JP, but you sure can! My knowledge of what’s going on at club level and with regard to up-and-coming players is helped by the blog too, but, like many, this is thanks to the insightful stuff written by others on here.

Eyesontheball, I would agree with your post. Ref not to blame for me, he make some poor calls as does every ref but we got a number going out way too, Andy taking out Cooper and scoring off it springs to mind.

Also seriously, the air corps had absolutely no bearing what so ever. Its the Irish Air Corp not the Dublin Air Corp. Next someone will blame the sky for being blue.

Mayo lost to a team with superior fire power pure and simple. They brought on 4 all star forwards, hit the highest conversion rate in 20years of finals, we brought on defenders. Mayo are set from numbers 1-18 but are short two players from the bench who can make an immediat impression from the bench. We are close vut lack that killer punch from the bench.

Ann-Marie, I disappointed to hear Elverys have taken down the colours. The ladies deserve just as much flags and colour around the county as the lads got.

Ultair… Sorry for misquoteding the percentage you used… Mayo need to be at 100% and Dublin need to 80/90%…are the percentage you used.. But I still stand by what I said…. Of course Donal Vaughan Red card has more to do with it….. But the Percentage of Wrong decisions given by the the Ref, guarantees Dublin a victory in such a tight match… Both penalty incidents are Penaltys or not.. Let the evidence of the TV footage guide you, the camera doesn’t lie.. They are not 14 meter frees….. Constantly ignoring the pull back on the Mayo inside forwards, these are frees not given… It’s not just this All Ireland, it’s every All Ireland final that Dublin play…. Sport should be fair.. The organisation the GAA, does and has been doing everything it can to facilitate Dublin success…. I include the Air Corp flyover, Imelda May.. Aslan (quite disgraceful the cheer leading. Pro Dublin , done by Aslan)… The disgraceful disparity in funding… The fact that, Dublin have only played two championship matches outside Croke Park in the last 10 years.. And to add insult to injury.. On both these occasions, in 2016 Dublin played Laois at Nolan Park, the home of Killkenny, some Laois fans boycotted the event because the match wasn’t played in O Moore Park… This year even more bizzare, Dublin played Carlow in the home of Laois O Moore Park.. Now can you point out anything there that is not factual?

I’m a proud Mayo man living in Dublin for my sins. I have decided not to post until today, as my heart is crushed with yet another defeat. I’m a season ticket holder and have followed these lads all over the country. The final whistle and it’s all over, I hold back the tears from another defeat, at this stage, I seem to be able hide my true emotions so as not to appear weak, but I’m sure they will return when I decide to analysis the match in detail, as I can’t even bother to look at it yet. I felt for a little girl who was balling her eyes out as her mother brought her up the steps of the Cusack on that lonely journey back the n4 to Mayo, I had those same feelings back in the 1989 final. Time is a great healer, and I’m sure that when I get the email from the GAA to renew my season ticket, I will do. I hope we bring fresh blood into the panel with an emphasis on forwards as this again is our Achilles heel for finals.

“The organisation the GAA, does and has been doing everything it can to facilitate Dublin success….”.

You or I have no way of knowing whether the GAA are actively trying to give every title to Dublin or not. I tend not to believe in conspiracy theories… So I don’t accept as what you are saying as factual at all. Of course on the face of it there seems to be a certain bias. It’s not fair they get to play all their games within their own county. But that has been the case for a very long time now. It’s not a new thing. What you are saying about referees is far too subjective and not worth debating over. The rest… it’s a distraction over the real issues we need to address, the issues that have plagued us in every single final since 2012.

Time to eat the chip on your shoulder. The day will come again when we will beat them, but not before we get our own house in order.

We are all emotional, raw, whatever and the general consensus is that Mayo probably played their best final in our times and I think that’s true.
Firstly compliments to the management and team – got to another final and critically they have got Mayo playing a fantastic varied game of kicking and strong runners – we have seen it the last 4 games and it should be a blue-print for the future at all levels. Honestly don’t think I have ever say I have seen Mayo play a better brand of football and Management must take great credit for this.

Ok we can look at incidents throughout the game as have been called out here and overall the decisions did favour Dublin on the day by any reasonable and unbiased analysis. An ex Dublin player who was in my company Monday admitted that he definitely felt in recent times that Dublin always got the critical calls from the Ref on final Sundays. That just shouldn’t be happening.

But leaving all the above aside, what really frustrates me, not just on Sunday, but in all our close final defeats, is our end of game management. I have to say, as hard as it was to read, Jimmy McGuinness article hit the nail on the head straight on and we need to cast aside the emotion and face these realities. I have always maintained, way before final losses of this generation, that the last 10-15 minutes of a final are not like any other match a player or team will have played, basically you need to elevate yourself to a higher plain so to speak and take on the specific task of claiming the cup. Like as if to say, both teams have sussed each other out to this point, now is the time to go and deliver the knock-out punch. As McGuinness put it, it’s then a game of will. I just think this is the area we have failed to plan for properly in all our close finals. If you look back at any winning team, they have always done this better than the opposition. I think it hit me first when I was at the 2005 final between Tyrone and Kerry, the game was in the balance and maybe 10 min to go Declan O’Sullivan missed a chance, well Tyrone just dramatically lifted the anti and dominated the final run in, they even missed 2 or 3 chances but created such momentum that the result was inevitable. Every one of our close finals we have flagged during this critical period be it physiologically or physically, but more critically, I don’t think we have prepared properly for this critical ‘championship’ phase.

Ok we all knew Dublin had top players to bring in off the bench, but critically they have planned for this because it’s actually more important to have your game changers at the end of the match, particularly given the physical demands of the current game and the fact that games are now running into 80+ minutes. Despite our core squad being together since 2011, it is amazing that we have ended up the last day with only 2 real viable options off the bench as potential game changers and both these players are 21-22. I am not suggesting the other substitutes are not viable, however 3 or 4 of them are not deemed good enough to have been given proper league game time or start a championship match, yet somehow we expect them to then come on in a final at this critical juncture and drag us over a line that has not been crossed for 66 years?

Like we roughly ended the game with the following team: Clarke, Harrison, Cafferky, Barrett, Keegan, Durcan, Drake, Kirby, Parsons, D’OConnor, AOS, Drake, COC, Loftus – can we really say we ended up with our best, or near best team on the field? Have that team ever even lined out before? Certainly not all in the positions they ended up in. I know it’s a well debated chestnut, but we really have failed to blood players over the last few years and now we are seeing the outcome of that. Ok we may not have any apparent superstar in our reserves, but let no one tell me that we don’t have players potentially as good as O’Gara, Small, Mannion or Scully who started for Dublin the last day in our squad. Is it not a distinct thread through all our big games that we can stay with anyone for 60+ minutes, it’s the final 15 that has got us every time because we never have our best team on the pitch at the end?

To give a damming statistic, take our final game each season 2012-2017, Andy Moran has been our top scorer from play. Bar 2015 replay V Dublin (in which he came on as a sub), he has not been on the pitch at the final whistle for any other of the games (of course he missed 2012). But still that is 3 Finals and one Semi Final replay that he has not been there at the final whistle. Note he was probably carrying a knock the last day, however he would have probably been taken of anyway.

Two lasting impressions from the last day – our substitutions seemed to be based on tiredness, GPS, knocks etc. and not based on a well thought out plan on how to get a team finishing the match that they believed could elevate up to that higher level and deliver the result. On the other hand, Dublins seemed way more strategic with the ultimate objective to finish with a better team than they started. And I do always get the feeling, as McGuinness rightly pointed out, that Dublin know in their gut that, despite the closeness of the games, they know if they are in the mix coming into the closing stages that they will pip Mayo because we will not be bring doing anything different.

A final impression is, as Toto said on another thread, maybe we are now normalising final defeats. One thing really hit me after the Kerry game, despite them being well outplayed, they were going loco with ref decisions and perceived rough tactics from Mayo. Their fans are still going loco. Basically because they hate losing, particularly to a team like Mayo. Did we have enough rage on the pitch with the ref decisions or the pull down tactics at the close of the game? All I’m hearing is ex Dublin players on about the GPS incident, however not a word about Dublin players basically pulling their markers to the ground to kill the last few minutes. I didn’t watch the Sunday game yet, however I’d guess there wasn’t a mention of it.

There are some incredible positives to be taken from this season, however I think we all need to take a step back and fully understand what is needed to win an All Ireland and try and avoid getting buried in the emotion.

As many have said, hopefully theyl be very few or no retirements in the squad even though i cant imagine how diffucult for these guys to keep coming back year after year, its easier said than done but if we do manage to bring in new starters next year, some of the older players on the team are the gamechangers that can be brought from the bench with 20 mins to go that we were lacking this year, andy is playing the football of his life, his movement and cleverness are top class and would be a nightmare for any tiring defence, keith coming off the bench running at a tiring team, he still has the speed required as we saw this year especially in the replay vs roscommon when he tore them apart, the same goes for boyle, not only that can u imagine the morale boost for the team and fans when these guys are announced to be introduced

Willie Joe – hope you don’t mind my re-posting of this so that the message does not get lost – have had a bit of interest already, but the more the merrier:

Folks – I’ve setup an email address to try to gather together a group of folks to see about getting people who are interested together and see what, if anything, we can do. Everyone is busy, this isn’t a recruitment for full time roles.
If you can send an email to:mayogaavolunteers@gmail.com

with the following details:
Name, phone number for now, any twitter handles etc and where you live (County or City would be fine, don’t need your Eircode or the likes)

Jim McGuinness has pointed out that managing that end game is critical – breaking it down into minute segments that you control and keep the opposition at bay. To do that properly though we needed another 2 points on the board: in other words a lead of 4 points, possibly 3 to protect us. Donie’s red was a point conceded to a throw in, but you never know of course how the play will unfold. The irony is that we seemed to finish stronger in previous finals

Overall, and I’ve said this already, I reckon this was the best performance from a Mayo team I have ever seen. We bossed the game, (ok,didn’t see it out at 78m), showed how to win it against a really great team. We didn’t just put in a good performance as Darragh O’Shea has pointed out, we put in a performance for all time. To me that’s what’s so heartening. I always felt we underperformed in previous finals and we just couldn’t get scores from forward play. You don’t hear any talk now about the lack of marquee forwards.

Here’s what a Cork friend texted me yesterday; (don’t come down on this for caps lock Willie Joe!):

Right now regardless of what any pundit says, there’s no consolation or heartening feeling in defeat. Another bloody final defeat. I see no reason in analysing the game but to look to the future and what we can do to help bring Mayo forward. Like KL, time to drive on… What can you do for your county?

Fully back up Mayonaze’s post above. I know it’s hard, but we all need to move on from Sunday and look to the future and see what we can do as supporters to bring our county team and our structures to the next level. You’ll get nothing from living in the past, but you can achieve everything looking towards and planning for the future. Would advise anyone who wants to get involved and make a difference to contact FBDinashui on the email he has given.

God only knows how the players are feeling cause in my case this is a new low for me. Couldn’t keep it together at the final whistle on sunday and bawled like a 5 yr old. Again today. This is going to take a lot of getting over. Every final defeat I keep telling myself it will serve as the sauce to make the ultimate prize even sweeter when it comes. Just feel things are slipping away and this team is our last chance. We are competitive in spite of the GAA and its funding bias, not because of it.

It’s past time for the management to find a new free taker. We have lost so many finals by just one point , yet in every final we have missed several free kicks. It not the just the free at the end of this years final but the easier one in the first half. If Cillan had not the pressure of the frees his overall play might improve. In the past he could hit them from outside the 45 but he struggles with any free even 40 out now. In these tight games we can’t afford to miss many.

Ultair… I gave factual details of just some of the things and decisions made by the GAA, in order to favour Dublin success….And that’s only some of the details… Next year it’s getting worse with the super eight…
If you believe that Dublin at 80/90% are as good as Mayo at 100%..I suggest that you have began to believe the concisus, but facts remain facts .. Roscommon didn’t believe that they were in any way inferior when they played Galway in the Connaught final in Salthill this year, despite considerable evidence from the previous year that Galway were maybe 50% better than Roscommon… I can tell you ONE big difference. The way the game was reffed …It wasn’t reffed to give the supposedly superior team any unfair advantage.. Umpires, linesmen and the Ref, made the decisions on the game in front of their eyes… In particular the holding back of the Roscommon fowards off the ball was punished… Mayo and Kerry had the same refereeing team for the All Ireland semifinal replay and infringement off the ball were called correctly… You suggested earlier that Dublin subs were so much superior to Mayo’s, maybe so, and maybe we can’t expect anything else other than to be defeated .. But what about the inferiority of Killkenny compared to Keegan, Andrews in comparison to Harrison, who was Dublin starting forward Eoghan O ‘Gara superior to?.. Higgins was superior to a few different Dublin players on the Day, he changed who he was marking a few times… And Chris Barrett was superior to everyone else on the pitch… The referee, umpires and linesmen have a duty to make objective decisions on what’s happening on the pitch… Not on some supposed superiority , conferred on the Dublin team by others. And consequently an inferiority conferred on Mayo by others as well.. In the unfortunate history of this country many people in Ireland for centuries believed in the superiority of a foreign people and a foreign Monarch.. ..This misguided belief contributed to our own misfortune and subjugation… If we do not believe in ourselves, it’s easier for others to doubt us as well…. And they will continue to subject us to their will, by fair means or foul!

Do you think the players are blaming the ref after Sunday? Not a chance of it. You hear them interviewed after matches – you control the controllables – the things you directly influence. You cannot control a refs performance.

Bottom line is the Dubs outgunned us in the forwards in the last 10 minutes. The point has been made many times since – you must have natural forwards on the pitch in tight matches. Even if they can’t convert they have the smarts to win a free. We need one more natural forward in the match day squad of 21 in 2018. All the better if he has real pace – is he in the county now?

Last observation. Cillian O’Connor is one of the best footballers in the country – a leader. Maybe I’m old style but for frees in the 30 metre range, and ones out on the flanks, I prefer to see the freetaker taking it from the ground instead of from the hands. Its easier to control the in-swing. I’d like to see him getting back to this next year.

Leantimes
You are spot on again, take the dublin team man to man
with the Mayo team ,how many of them are better than
Mayo players. i would say none, they think that other counties
have a inferiority .this has been so ,going back to the time when
they started calling us culchies many moons ago, a bit like the
unionists in the north, where are all those great players they have
coming through ,the goalkeeper is 35 ,andrews, ogara, brogan ,thats
4 they have to replace, Mayo played too much football this year, the
Cork game took a lot of energy from the players imo, as regards linesmen
little men with short trousers running up and down the touchline .slan
,

I get the impression you’re not reading my posts, Leantimes. All the Mayo players you mentioned, not once did I say any were inferior to their Dublin counterparts. Our best 15 v their best 15, there’s nothing in it. But yes, when you look at it in terms of 21 v 21, there is a gap in quality. That has been the point I and others have been making and for me is the reason we’ve ultimately fallen short on the last 3 occasions. Completely agree that refs, linemen, umpires etc are supposed to be totally impartial but debating their impartiality in past games involving Dublin is not going to get us anywhere now. I’m not going to argue the conspiracy theory angle because there’s no point.

All that being said, Donie Vaughan doesn’t get sent off and Cillian doesn’t clip the post and it’s likely we’d be having a different discussion now. I certainly think we can beat Dublin but at this moment in time it looks to me that more has to go right for us and more has to go wrong for them.

Darragh O Se buttering up Mayo with his statements that they are the second best team of all time. Tell that to Padraic Joyce, Donnellan, Ja Fallon et al who brought two all-irelands to Galway in 1998 and 2001.
Its laughable and I hope no real Mayo fans buy into that kind of nonsense as great teams are teams that actually win the all-ireland not nearly win it. 2018 will be a difficult year for Mayo with both Galway and Roscommon looking for a place in the Super 8’s.

Still not much better today. Fuck sake.
We are left with 2 options. 1, Bitch and moan about decisions that (rightly for us or wrongly against us) cannot be changed and will not change the result, no matter how much we want it to. Or 2, look to the future to see where we can improve for next year and over the next 5 to 10 years.
With the proposed Mayo centre of excellence in planning stage, soon our county teams will have all the necessary facilities at their disposal. The latest up to date technologies and data to hand will also help. I assume there will be all weather training pitches, fully lit, and I would hope that at least 2 of those pitches would be exact replicas of the Croke Park pitch in size, turf, drainage, levels and grass type. IDENTICAL. Even down to the goal posts.

We also need a director of coaching (head hunted if necessary) who will oversee a team of regional coaching officers (fully accredited and vetted). These officers should be going in to every school and club in their area and training/advising/overseeing the coaches in these teams to ensure they are coaching their players using age relevant drills and also using proper equipment. Both feet, both hands. No excuse. (As I tell my ladies team that I coach, God gave us 2 feet and 2 hands to play Gaelic with. To solo, kick and pass with both. Otherwise he’d have left us in the seas!)

Age appropriate mental and physical health programs, teaching about hydration, diet, rest and work load etc. Stress and how to cope with it etc. If schools or clubs refuse the outside help then the county board should hold back their ticket allocations when the time comes.

Everything should be measured and audited to ensure that progress is continuous. What gets measured gets done, as they say. The benefits will follow through in time. I am certain.
I see young lads/ladies nowadays and their appetitie for sport is huge. Young lads now are built like brick shit houses, are mad for the gym and more and more ladies are playing the game. WE MUST HARNESS THIS.

All of the above takes money. So what. There’s any amount of that around all we need to do is harness it.
Hon Mayo.

I haven’t watched the match since Sunday, will bring myself around to it in the next few days.
I will keep a note of the easy wides and the harder wides, I reckon Mayo had more easy wides than Dublin.
Still finding it hard to concentrate and get some work done.
I often wonder why I must go through such emotions after Mayo loose a final, not living or working in Mayo for over 20 years, but go on holidays there around 5 times a year. Following Mayo is a bug, an addiction, a religion. I live in the hope to see Mayo do it some day.

I think in relation to the tee that is already out on the pitch he is entitled to do that – tees shouldn’t be out on the field of play for anything other than a kick out…but he is clearly acting the boll*x with respect to the one behind the line he throws back further…i’m surprised he didn’t get a bit more manners put on him from Clarke and hwoever else in shot – what stage of match was that at – was it when they were waiting for Rock free to be taken…its kind of sad that umpires aren’t more active….when are they going to put full time refs in as umpires for All irelands – its long over due based on what i saw in general on Sunday

Ultair , I think under Rochford we have our house in order . Sundays performance confirmed that.

Although you are correct about us and indeed any team taking responsibility for our own failings I actually think that’s actually a hallmark of the team under Rochford .

They DO take ,and have taken ,collective responsibility for their issues .

If , for example , you compare this game versus the one we drew last year , we were much better on Sunday and many problems have been addressed . Rochford himself said however that this was not our best possible performance . He’s a realist and a pragmatist . He’s also correct .

Rochford is an absolute godsend for us . James Horan wanted to take the BS out of Mayo football and he did a great job . Rochford is doing an even better job . He’s taking all the S out of Mayo football. Not just the BS.

Saying we have a chip on our shoulder does not sit well with me . Watch the game again . Watch the errors the ref made in and not in our favor. There is clear daylight there . Pointing out this does not make me a whiner but if you think so then god bless you.

Both Canning and Dolan called the Keegan incident a penalty ( though not by name ). Listen to the commentary again .

Watch O Gara pick the ball off the ground in front of ref to score . Etc etc . I have outlined these and other obvious errors in prior posts .

I agree this makes no difference now except to maybe promote the idea that refereeing is most definitely not at the standard of these players.

And if we do nothing ( ABOUT THE REFEREEING ) and don’t get our house in order we will get the same results. One could say we are ” addressing an issue “. Or at least trying to promote the idea of fair play.

Bias towards winners or perceived winners has been confirmed in study after study . It’s part of our humanity . Joe McQullian qualifies under that category.

We need more than one human to referee these games because otherwise the dice is loaded or at the very least there is allowed to be a perception that it’s loaded.

Joe , being human , and knowing Dublin are de facto winners has bias that he can’t see himself . That has been proven over and over again about mere humans . I’m not a whiner for pointing that out , in fact I don’t care about it . At all.

But when a ref is not doing his basic job effectively or correctly and there is no mechanism to correct it , review it , or to transparently deliver fair play ( other than Pat McAneany saying how fair it is ) then I’m drawing attention to this and asking that we do better.

McQuillan has both winner’s bias and also he seems to want more than anything to be kingmaker.

Pebbles, spot on….if you have not done so already, will you drop an email to the address FDBinashui has set up:- mayogaavolunteers@gmail.com together with your name, phone number for now, any twitter handles etc and where you live.

pebbles
i just read that croke park have to approve the Mayo center, 5 pitches, a meeting room and kitchen , no mention of gym or pool. 3 years to complete if its approved. And we will go on a major fundraising drive, wonderful, lets start by ringing those multibillion dollar firms with major operations in MAYO. And then lets alter those planning drawing to include a fully kitted out gym with plenty of space for a panel to train and maybe even a pool.
At the moment we have a pitch and a half to train on , Castlebar Mitchells give it out of kindness and Tom Parsons and co drive from dublin in their own cars to train on it and then drive back to dublin. Its nothing short of miraculous that this group of players are able to compete with dublin. I have new found respect for them which goes beyond respect.
Sligo has a center of excellence as has Leitrim, and Galway has a choice of 11 pitches to train on. I won’t go on.

I’m not sure he lives in Dublin now. I saw some Cavan woman commenting on a GAA post during the week, saying that he loves when he comes up to Dublin as he gets treated very well!! Maybe she was being sarcastic!!!!

1. Unless a commercial director is put in place, talk of a centre of excellence is insane. Kerry and Tyrone have them because they are financially prudent and fundraise properly for these things. This will get dumped on the clubs like every other white elephant they’ve built. Building a centre of excellence won’t solve the issue of so many of our players having to work and study in Dublin. Why not approach clubs in the county and choose one in each division with the available land and facilities and ask them to build a all weather flood lit pitch. The county board can suspend the club levy for 10 years to offset the cost to the club and cover the cost of the pitch. CB gets priority with the pitch for 10 years and it can be used by all age grades. It would allow you to have facilities all over the county and it would improve the facilities of four clubs.
2. How has a sports science course not been started in GMIT? You would attract talented young sports people from around the country and they could do their work experience with clubs around the county. The best students could be then handpicked for coaching roles within the county upon graduation for 3 year contracts. We need to get rid of the 50-60 year old men coaching our youth. The kids can’t relate to them and the coaches don’t have the enthusiasm and energy required for the role. Can you imagine the energy a freshly graduated young footballer, brimming with ideas and the latest techniques would bring to the underage set up. This falls under the director of coaching mandate.
3. It’s beyond criminal that we aren’t tapping into the goodwill that exists for these players. We should be set up financially and structure wise for a generation after the previous 7 years but the cold reality is that had we lost to Derry, the house of cards would have come crashing down.

Finally, on Sunday’s match, we are lacking 2/3 subs who would have pushed us over the line. 1-17 we can match anyone. The actions of some ex players and individuals online also proved a theory I’ve long had about a cohort of Dublin supporters and that is that it doesn’t really matter to them. They’re after winning 3 in a row and they’re still whinging about Keegan. It really does drive some of them insane that he wipes the floor with their best players year after year. Do you think we’d be talking about the eye gouging, wrestling or tee kicking if we won the fecking thing?? Majority of the supporters are salt of the earth but they really do have a hateful element amongst them.

Rightly or wrongly if a team like Mayo competes in the All-Ireland series competitively they will only gain recognition by their components if they hold an All-Ireland medal. Darren O’Shea in his article today is calling out Mayo as the second best team of this era. Articles like these feed nicely into the Mayo emotional psyche and contributing to what is nauseously becoming the Boohoo brigade. Take a look at the AI honors list in the match program, it is a sobering read. No more crying and lamenting from the Mayo fans please, time to get clinical.

Not once did I suggest the team aren’t taking responsibility for any failings. I know they are. That’s not what I was saying.

Completely agree about Rochford.

The ‘chip on your shoulder’ remark was not aimed at Mayo fans collectively. It was said to a specific poster who has mentioned the following in relation to our loss: Imelda May, The Irish Air Corps, Bernard Dunne winning a boxing match in Breaffy House, the subjugation of the Irish people by England, Nelson Mandela, various refereeing decisions in various different matches. That sounds to me like there’s more going on there than regret over a football match but perhaps you disagree.

Do I think McQuillan had a perfect game? No. Do I think he was biased against Mayo? No. In any case it is too subjective to get into here. It generates more heat than light. It is not going to make any difference now. But yes, the quality of refereeing needs to be looked at. That has been a long-standing issue in the GAA and it’s not just Mayo that have suffered because of it. But this idea that the referees are involved in some big conspiracy against Mayo or to promote Dublin I don’t have any time for.

if a fraction of the work that Rochford and his team puts in, was put into organizing proper facilities and getting a big Corporation on board as a sponsor for these facilities we would be a lot stronger than we are. We are fighting dublin, and for this once I will say ” fair fucks to Dublin” , we are fighting them with one hand tied behind our back. Mayo need to get a buck in the mold of rochford into a position of commercial director full time.
” but we can’t afford it”. Yes, we can can, if he’s any good he will pay for himself in the stroke of a pen in some corporations boardroom when he gets that check.
Dublin got AIG onboard, we should aim to get even bigger than AIG onboard. There’s money out there, the right man needs to be sent to ask for some.

Well said Liam, especially your last paragraph. Charlie Redmond saying the Gaa should throw the book at Keegan, ffs Charlie just praise your County after 3 in a row…an incredible achievment. Or maybe your secretly jealous, coz when you go off for a pint, and bore the head of some young fella who hasn’t a clue who you are. Telling him bout how you won 1 AI, and secretly resent the present team. I congratulate the genuine supporters like Martin the Dub. But this whinging from a high percentage of supporters is ridiculous.

The USA didn’t defeat the Soviets on the field of battle during the Cold War, they bankrupt them. The defeats we’ve suffered on the pitch won’t be half as damaging as the financial clobbering we’re receiving at the moment. We are being forced to put everything we have in to the senior team in order to keep up with Dublin and we are neglecting our underage structures. The proof is in the pudding, 1 U21 Connacht title in 6 years. Beaten by Galway at all grades this year, well beaten in the minor and U17’s, the Ted Webb.
Clubs are struggling with numbers and forced to play 13 a side at numerous age grades, yet divisional development squads are then coming in and taking 3/4 of your best players from your U14 team. They’re not developing them skill wise, they’re playing training games with them. No kicking practise, shooting practice, hand passing drills, just games. The clubs are suffering badly and yet the vast majority of these lads won’t play county at any level, they’re just there to make up numbers.
The most frustrating aspect of it is that we don’t even have to come up with a structure ourselves, just go down to Kerry and “borrow” theirs. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery.

Advocating for a second referee , more use of technology and a managers ability to question or review a number of big plays seems to me to be sensible especially in Semi Finals and Finals of the All Ireland .
Same for big club games ( I grant the technology might be tough or impossible to pull off ) where a second referee should be appointed .

This is all my opinion .

What’s not opinion and what is in fact proven is winners bias , confirmation bias and home team bias . For a small taste of this read on below. This is not conspiracy theory about us versus them. It’s the science of us versus our own biases . We are all biased and that’s why technology , review and data analysis as well as the use of more than one referee makes for fairer sport.

Back to my opinion . I believe Joe McQuillan is biased not because he’s anti Mayo but because Dublin are his home team. Watching the game now multiple times , you can not convince me otherwise . I’m sure this is bias on my part too but under no circumstance do I subscribe to the idea that he was not biased and that he did a great job Sunday. There I’m biased.

Galway hurler – you are correct about the excellent Galway team of 98 and 01. A team packed with leaders and champions. But don’t kid yourself that Galway and Roscommon are currently anywhere near mayos level. I don’t care about Connacht championship results in last 2 years. That competition has about as much relevance as the league when the big boys start flexing their muscles in August. Galway haven’t won a game in croker in 17 years. That’s an absolute disgrace for a county like Ye. I went up this year to roar ye on with the best will in the world against Kerry, but in truth it was men against boys. Galway were beaten the minute the kerry jersey appeared on the field for the warmup. Apart from Damien comer, most of your players looked like they didn’t even want to be there, and we’re in awe of a decent but not unbeatable Kerry side. When you are relying on the likes of Paul Conroy to provide leadership, well, you know what you will get. We’ll be in the super 8s next year and we’ll take it from there. I really hope yourselves and Roscommon will be too.

Liam, there’s absolutely no reason why Mayo GAA should ever be short of cash. There’s a massive potential now to raise money, both from private individuals and corporate bodies which can be put toward restructuring and developing a proper youth programme. Yes, our underage results have been alarmingly poor this decade, particularly at u21 level which I think is most relevant, but that doesn’t mean that we cannot reverse this trend and have Mayo back dominating at u21 again like we did in the noughties where we won 7 out of 10 years and this is what backboned the senior set up we have today. I believe that the goodwill, support and desire is out there amongst Mayo people. Mayo should be aiming to dominate at all levels, that should be the target.

Redmond is one bitter bollox. The irony of that clown having a go at lee about cheating – this is the same man who was sent off in the 1995 all Ireland final v Tyrone and refused to leave, staying on the pitch for almost ten minutes before being sent off again by the ref paddy Russell. Imagine that happening nowadays!

Feeling not as bad this year either. So proud of the team fot all they did up to and including the final.
The end result is not as big as the whole year getting there up to the last minute. I know not many others see it that way.
And we know we are good enough. More pride.
Thanks Wilie Joe for the blog.

Ultair, you might like to take a look at this footage of the game and tell me that I am wrong… In the world of boxing corruption of the judges or even incompetence of judge’s and the referee and officials is not unheard of.. Joe McQuillian is responsible for his decisions, the camera does not lie… Now the penalty incidents are even more bizzare.. You are one who believes that Dublin at 80/90% are as good as Mayo at 100%….maybe Joe McQuillian and his team of incompetent officials are buying into this false mindset and making it very easy to give Dublin an unfair advantage of an aquesant referee in their corner.. Whether he he means to be biased or not is another matter. And the very same goes for last year in the replay! https://youtu.be/mkMMxm-DfAE

Listening to what Charlie redmond wrote in some trash of a paper makes me laugh id say he’s not the most intelligent football analyst you’d find he would want to think back to his own day I wouldn’t say he’s the best sports man we’ve ever seen

Well done Tipper on highlighting the T issue. It’s clear how Dublin are so effective on the PR side see hill16 Facebook page attack on Lee.
Last year Tom Parsons was headbutted and left the pitch with blood coming down his face at half time. When I highlighted that on this website even people here told me to be quite.
Dublin on the other hand have now set the scene on Lee for 2018.
That stuff does make a difference and they are way better at it than us

The funding issue is ridiculous , the sheer amount of honest to jeezus mayo supporters out there is incredible , it just takes an honest transparent arrangement, by that I mean people want to see where its going and how much is being gathered .
Someone tech savy not long ago in here put up a post about ways you could show what was being bought and what was been paid for by monies raised. Its like an appreciation and it gives supporters a real connection , Mayo support is unique , it needs.and wants to be tapped into its a no lose .

Willie Joe, one of your posts indicated that you had over 30,000 hits on Monday on the blog – a new record and a clear indication of the importance of your platform for Mayo supporters as a source of mutual support, discussion and confession!. I was somewhat surprised that you dismissed the suggestion of some initiative ( a poll was mentioned) to encourage Stephen Rochford to continue for a third year. The first indication of concern about his possible stepping down was the ‘slightly worried’ comment posted yesterday I think by one poster and today I have noted some more including the poster who suggested some positive action. I believe there is a real possibility of Stephen stepping away given his work and family circumstances and if he does he will always be remembered as one of the greatest if not the greatest of Mayo managers. But if he did so now it would upend the progress made over the last two years, perhaps lead to more departures amongst the others on the management team and perhaps to player retirements. We need him to stay for just one more year. We are fingertips away from Sam and – with the Super 8 configuration and, hopefully, a Connacht title next year – as other contributors have pointed out – a real possibility of returning to another AI Final. Stephen and his team have evolved the tactics and strategies over the two years – the learning from the first year informed the nuanced changes for this year’s campaign. Doubtless he and they have learned more from Sunday, learning to be applied in next year’s campaign. It would be catastrophic to jettison that process at this point in the journey. A new manager, and perhaps backroom, would be on a different arc of learning and be a disruption rather than a rebooting of the focus and direction of the squad at this point in their performance cycle. We have to do everything possible to show him our support and wish for him to stay on for one more year. When he gave vent to his emotions during the City West speech the spontaneous standing ovation was one such demonstration of appreciation and continued support. I do believe this blog could be the platform for another such declaration by Mayo supporters far and wide that we absolutely want him to stay even for just one more year. Its not a matter of a vote for or against but more of a petition and given all of those 30,000 plus hits you mentioned surely you might consider a tick box or some other simple format for regular users of this site and those that aren’t but could be persuaded to post for this singular purpose ? Please give this some further thought. We want our lions to continue to be managed by lions…

Leantimes I understand you are very upset but they are serious blinkers you have on there.

I havent looked back on it too closely or made a video in fact but if we are being petty from the top of my head I can think of
1. Third man tackle for and Andy Moran point in the first half (Dublin are no angels in this department so I reluctantly bring this up but it was very blatent )
2.Andy Moran tripping Johnny Cooper up while Joe Mc Q is looking at him . He waved play on and Moran got and easy point
3. Sideline ball which then led to a very soft free that could have changed the result had Cillian scored .
4. 2/3 50:50 frees awarded to Mayo in scoring positions in the second half .
5. Did you not feel the ref was playing for a draw at the end ? Waiting for Dublin to mess up .A bias ref would have not played 3 mins over the injury time . He could have got away with a minute if he so wished.
6. A bias ref would have given AOS a black card at the beginning of the second half . I personally didn’t think it warranted one but if the ref is as crooked as you are suggesting it would have been an easy one to give .

These are just from the top of my head . A bias ref as you suggest On the steps count , have a look a Donie Vaughans point in the first half .
I hope to God that when Dublin to eventually get knocked out of a championship that we do t fixate on the referee half as much as you have.

I see where you’re coming from, Clooncosecovey, but I still think a poll on that would be pointless and serve no purpose whatsoever. Stephen will make his own mind up on the issue and I very much doubt that his thinking would be swayed on iota by the percentages in a poll run on this site.

I think Stephen needs to be given the time and space to think through what he wants to do and he should be given this. No doubt he’ll include in his thinking the strong support his team has got this year. I doubt any Mayo supporter in their right mind is saying now – in contrast to the many saying so after last year’s replay and even early this summer – that he should step down.

I know many feel that online expressions of support/likes/thumbs-up or what-have-you have an impact on what happens in the real world but that’s not a belief I share. So, no poll it is, I’m afraid.

md… This is the same Charlie Redmond who was sent off in the 1995 All Ireland final, only he didn’t go off…. Not alone that Tyrone were denied an equaliser in the last minute by an alleged handling the ball on the ground….. I remember watching that match with some German friends in Hamburg at the time…. They were very confused when a player didn’t have to go off, when he was sent off!

Apologies I do try to look at things from both sides , I really do feel for the mayo support but there is definitely a lack of appreciation out there for the achievements of the Dublin team .
It’s money , home advantage , referees , population .
These are all massive pluses for Dublin at the moment . But it’s all that’s really talked about . I mean the night of a three in a row and instead of lauding a great team the Sunday Game talk about splitting Dublin into three or four !
These are fantastic players who give their all for their county and are nothing but humble and respectful to their fans and opponents after a game .

I think Cloonsocovey is 100% right.
We should let Stephen Rochford know that Mayo want him for one more year along with the rest of the group involved. I will tell all the ones I know to come here and push the ” Stay one more year” button.
Mayo have a foot and shoulder in the door, we cannot pull away now.

Campaign against Lee is sickening. Purely down to fact Dubs hate him because he is so good. Blind eye being turned by media to all Dubs antics during game. Has all hallmarks of another orchestrated campaign. They are very sore winners. Would hate to think what they would be like if they lost!

Brucedub..You win a an All Ireland by the skin of your teeth and you come on a MAYO blog whinging about lack of recognition..I could explain reasons for said lack of recognition but honestly there is a list and I cant be bothered..

Big majority of Dubs are terrible winners. Straight onto social media starting a witch-hunt against Lee. No one here making an issue of O’Garas eye gouging, we’re moving on already. They just can’t hack that he A. Denied Connolly an allstar and won poty ’16, B. Cleaned Kilkenny, outscored him, and denied him an allstar.

The worst of the lot though, was Sean Cavannagh tweeting a pic of the gps in mid flight. Saying “whoever threw this gps unit should be exposed, they are quite solid, really poor sportsmanship”…Jesus christ Cavanagh preaching about sportsmanship….the man who invented the blackcard!!!!! He really is a horrible p***k.

Well the royal Ex Dublin Darling of the Hill has to take the lime light off Sweetie O’Gara for Gouging COLM Boyle’s eyes out! He has to try & get at Lee In someway, Well Charlie’s well OVER the Hill now, now he’s. Going to Specsavers!

I do not know what you’re reading Brucedub but I remember the day after the Tyrone game Willie Joe came on here and said that he had to wade through a “thicket of fawning guff ” about Dublin after that game. It was / is all out there.

But to turn it around on you how about appreciation for Mayo who single handedly brought this championship to life , were involved in all three of the most exciting games , are THE COMPELLING STORY in Irish sports for the last seven years and are in fact a phenomenon .

Mayo’s supporters actually show up to support and yes , appreciate their team , and asking your question when ye were outnumbered 2:1 in your back yard last Sunday actually answers itself .

Not sure if this has been mentioned elsewhere but Joe.ie has some video footage of Cormac Costello tampering with Daivd Clarke’s kicking tees towards the end of the game.
Just as unsportmanlike as Lee Keegan’s antics and probably more disruptive in terms of impact on the game.
Christ, it galls me to think how GPS gate gets up front on-line coverage from the “national” broadcaster whilst this and Gouge gate goes unnoticed.
As supporters we really need to fight fire with fire when it comes to highlighting this stuff.
Rant over – still hurting from Sunday!
.

Bruce Dub,… No ref gets everything right, but the amount of serious decisions blatantly wrong in Dublin favour is ridiculous… Even if what you say is right and don’t accept you are right at all… Two definite penalties denied, Eoghan O Gara incident with Colm Boyle… Two Dubs run to each other and a free to Dublin… In the YouTube video… Which I didn’t make by the way… Each over carrying incidents leads to a score for Dublin, which should have been disallowed and a free awarded to Mayo… That’s a total of 1. 03 wrongly awarded to Dublin when clearly over carrying… Make that 1.04 with the free wrongly awarded to Dublin at the end of the first half.. Mayo were denied two very clear penalties and numerous pulling of the Mayo forwards off the ball went completely ignored… I make that 1.04 less for Dublin and 2 goals more for Mayo.. You can take away 2 points from 14.meter frees that should have been penalties… Cluxton should have a black card in first penalty situations and Phil McMahon a yellow for same incident… I don’t know how many incidents of pulling back of the Mayo forwards was ignored.. But so far I have counted 5 in the first half alone.

Swahili . Thanks for highlighting another issue if concern for Dublin fans . Mayo fans did out number us 2:1 but this definitely wasn’t down to the fact Dublin fans didn’t want to attend the matchs . Extra Tickets simply don’t come up to the capital for AI finals !
I’d love to see a video of ‘The eye gouging ‘ I’ve only seen an inconclusive photo .

Jesus, this place even gets infected with whining dubs. There is no escape. Sorry but I’m sick of it. Leave us be in peace here to discuss and get over losing in peace. We don’t need to be made say ‘Dublin are great’. This is a Mayo GAA Blog. We don’t have Dublin heroes unless it’s Tom Parsons and the like. Mayo gaa lotto won tonight and they are even turning up there stirring shit. By all means come on like Martin the dub and be sensitive but don’t come on here arguing with posters about the ref. Go under the independent fb page or the likes but leave it out of here.
Think I’m off to the sin bin now.

BruceDub – I know you’re a reasonable contributor (and your comments here are always welcome) but on this occasion it might be the sensible thing to do to let this particular debate slide without provoking others any further.

As others have pointed out, this is a Mayo site and what’s said here is obviously going to come from this standpoint. And we did, only a few days ago, lose our third final to your county by a single, lousy point. And that big gob Charlie Redmond has really got everyone’s back up – with justification – with his brainless intervention about Lee. So, all things considered, maybe it’s not the right time or place to be looking for praise from others here about Dublin.

As has already been noted – and which I saw myself when compiling the links to match reports for the results archive – the media was awash with stuff on Monday about how Dublin are the greatest team of all time. I think you’ll struggle to top that in terms of getting appreciation for this Dublin team.

Fair enough Sinead , I’ll leaves yas to it .
Staying objective is very hard , insults towards dubs are really at a high here at the moment . I’ll take my attention somewhere else while trying to get through my hangover .
Bye for now .

Personally think the Dubs aren’t fully satisfied with winning anymore, otherwise they wouldn’t be going on pissing and moaning for recognition, and starting witch-hunts. Seems its getting too easy for them. Like they know deep down they have a range of unfair advantages. Deep down they know its gets boring for them. They should be glad that at least we match them, unlike anyother team who they steam roll before halftime.

One aspect that struck me after the weekend is the amount of undue pressure placed on a losing captain after an all Ireland defeat .
First of all having to address and lift the spirits of a thousand people at a losing banquet and then the following day having to do the same for tens of thousands at a losing homecoming
It’s only human nature that Cillian has been thinking about this in the lead up and I feel that his form has dropped slightly since he was handed captaincy
I am not for one minute saying he should not be our leader but I feel Cillian has not reached his peak yet and in a game of inches like we saw last Sunday we need everyone free from unnecessary pressures .
I would suggest that it should be precedure that ( if we lose ) the captain knows that it is not going to be his job to address our fans but rather a nominated player representative
If ( when ) we win the precedure is the captain takes over this duty
This promotes only positive thoughts and also eases any worries that have to be there in a captains mind as he is trying to get his head right for his primary role …….
Game of inches

I have to say that redmonds got some neck on him. You take it from some other dubs but he has some cheek. Those that don’t remember 1995 final – I was at it – he wasn’t on for 10 mins after being sent off but he was on for 3 or 4 mins and was involved in a move that ended up with a Dublin point in a match they won by 1pt….he knew he was sent off no doubt about it. So he cheated to win – never apologised – never handed his medal back …so if it was coming from someone else u might say fair enough – but this guy has “dirty hands” as they say in court.

A Dublin supporter comes on to the main Mayo supporters web page and is disappointed and surprised to find that it’s not awash with glowing tributes to his team. As I mentioned earlier, there is a serious migration of soccer supporters jumping on the bandwagon now in Dublin. It was evident Sunday night when instead of celebrating a 3 in row they were straight on to social media goading Mayo supporters. I recognise this lads name from posting throughout the year and he may not fall into that catagory, but this crap tonight is out of order.

Willie Joe – “I know many feel that online expressions of support/likes/thumbs-up or what-have-you have an impact on what happens in the real world but that’s not a belief I share. So, no poll it is, I’m afraid.”

I don’t mean any disrespect to you but what’s the point having a man of the match poll or voting on whether people think we’re going to win before games then?

Still brutally disappointed but have no interest in playing the blame game or looking for scapegoat. Really hope Rochford and Buckley and McEntee stay on. We are continuing to improve under their guidance. Massive respect for Mayo throughout the country by all genuine sports people. Its not much consolation but its better than being a laughing stock.But we will be a laughing stock if we blame Imelda May or the Air Corps or Leo Varadker for going to the Dublin hotel etc for our defeat. We lost because we did not do enough to win. We played brilliantly on Sunday, but we were not quite good enough. We missed a few chances, had some bad luck, struck the post with a free etc. Dublin, because of their better panel finished strongly and all through the second half found their scores easier to come by. We probably panicked a bit in the last 10 minutes but when you are carrying 66 years of baggage and bodies and minds are entirely wrecked its unsurprising that mistakes kick in. We needed to go short and keep possession with the kick out before Rocks point, but the defenders didnt or couldnt make the runs so Clarke went long and we lost possession. After that Dublin cynicism and game management kicked in and we couldnt get the ball. The referee was not great in my opinion but by some strange coincidence some always blame the ref when we lose. We happen to half like Conor Lane who reffed the draw last year and we all like Gough who reffed our win v kerry. We dont like dublin joe or Deegan who reffed our defeats. I wont even mention Cormac Reilly. I wasnt over happy with McQuillan but I tend to agree with Cantinis earlier analysis. I wouldnt blame Keegan one bit for the gps throw no more than Id blame our lads for being as cynical as the dubs were had we been in front. It really is all about winning. No Dublin player made any issue of what Keegan did and I will bet you wont hear any Mayo player criticise the ref for our defeat, because in their hearts they will know they had the winning of the game but didnt take it. As for the analysts. Jim McGuinness knows his stuff but Darragh o Se made some silly comments today. We might like what he wrote but we are not the third best team in the last 50 years. Tyrone, with 3, Galway with 2 and Meath with too many AI wins are well ahead of us. Having said that I think our team is brilliant and I have nothing but the utmost respect for them. For 7 years they have given their all, have given us incredible days, have had incredible hard knocks but have bounced back better than ever and its this amazing courage and resilience which has won over so many non Mayo people who genuinely and desperately wanted us to win last Sunday. I have nothing but pride in and admiration for our wonderful team but a great Dublin team have the cup and the best we can hope for is that our lads can rise again and challenge in 2018. Maigh Eo abu.

I find the some of the online dublin fans an incredibly odd bunch-win the all ireland and post vile abuse / or start witch hunts against opposition players that they have just beaten – Why not just enjoy and bask in the glory of your three in a row win? Just odd.

As for ourselves I’d be fairly optimistic about the next 1-2 seasons. We have the capacity to win this bloody thing. I would take the captaincy off Cillian and let him focus more on his own game/freetaking. Obviously ease players back in for the league – we need 3/4 more options and from watching club football reape/nally/Ruane can step up. I would hope freeman can commit again next year too. A fit Kevin Keane will provide horses for courses cover at full back too. Get paddy Durcan practising off the left boot. Closing out games and the role of subs was a problem this year. They need to be more in tune with the intensity required. Was evident v Derry (after the loftus goal), v cork when we managed the game end very poorly, v roscommon drawn game and the final.

We’re now capable of playing a mixed brand of football that’s very hard to set up against which has taken 2 years to implement – I expect it to improve further next year.

Management need to be given whatever necessary to stay but there are a few players who’s time is probably up unfortunately and one or two who add very little. Rochford beds to be brutal and cut 3/4 players to make room for new young talent. Has to be done.

As someone else said, those fringe and potential players (no need to list them because we all know most of their names) should be bursting a gut over the coming months to prove their desire and value. Time will tell. That u21 batch in particular, it’s now or maybe never. If they aren’t breaking into the senior panel aged 23, are they ever going to?

interesting that as far as I can tell nobody mentioned Jason Gibbons, I feel his loss from the panel robbed us of a mobile, ball handling midfielder, decent in the air, several times in this championship this was our biggest weakness as players tired. One of the few Rochford errors this campaign.

5 titles in 7 years was always bound to reduce the value to the fans, oh, and can somebody let Charlie Redmond know that dublin got a free at the end and actually won ? Please, let him know.
He seems a bit upset, the poor crature!!

To Win Just Once, please take a look at the evidence https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mkMMxm-DfAE Nothing to do with Imelda May or the Air Corp, don’t know how you expect Mayo to win ever? .. Plenty of people with influence don’t want people to ask questions…I won’t tell you how to think,… But I think that It’s a long time ago that the dice was loaded, and its not loaded in Dublin’s favour, it continues.. In the song ‘The West Awake’… The word’s’ when connacht lies in slumber deep ‘.. Maybe it’s time for everyone in the West to wake up, and believe the evidence of your own eye’s, even if you don’t believe me,!

The two are completely different, Maigh Eo go deo. The MOTM polls – and the who-do-you-think-will-win ones – relate to specific matches and what people feel about those games and isn’t meant to influence anything. Running a poll on whether or not Stephen stays or goes, with the express aim of trying to influence his decision on this, would be a very different exercise, one with a completely different aim.